Shell has signed a five-year contract with Kongsberg for the installation of its JAWS (Just Add Water System) software on board 45 LNG carriers chartered by Shell.
The contract signing follows a successful year-long trial, co-conducted by Kongsberg, Shell and the LNG shipping services provider Gaslog, on board the LNG carrier Methane Julia Louise. The vessel’s shaft energy consumption was recorded for nine months prior to the JAWS installation, as well as throughout the year-long trial with the JAWS software installed, and the trial demonstrated that JAWS could provide a significant fuel saving for the vessel.
JAWS is a user-friendly hydrodynamic optimisation programme, with no additional instrumentation required. It calculates the most advantageous operating conditions in real time based on algorithms developed from historic high-frequency vessel data. The system continually issues recommendations for optimal trim and draft, helping crews to cut fuel consumption and GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions. JAWS provides live data that allows ship and fleet managers to monitor and report emissions savings.
K-IMS, meanwhile, is a web-based solution which gives both ship crews and shore teams continual access to crucial voyage and vessel data. The provision of JAWS as an application within the K-IMS suite renders it instantly available to all K-IMS users.
Over the course of the year-long testing phase, onboard and onshore monitoring confirmed that the JAWS software generated substantial average energy savings of 5% when its recommendations were followed. This benchmark data was contrasted with performance data gathered from the sister vessel Methane Becki Anne, which followed a similar trading pattern.
One immediate outcome of the tests was a commitment from NSML (Nigeria Ship Management Limited) to invest in JAWS software for 11 of its LNG carriers.
For more information visit Shell’s website.