New winner in Solvang Energy Efficiency Award
SEAMANSHIP: Solvang’s 2023 Energy Efficiency Award pits more than 20 crews against eachother in terms of cunning energy savings. The winner was exceptional.
Every year, Solvang kicks off a special competition. The crews pit themselves against crews on the other Solvang vessels in terms of tactical and strategic seamanship, smart operation and technical proficiency. The rules of the competition are adjusted for each vessel’s SEEMP, the Ship Energy Efficiency Management Plan.
In 2023, many vessels showed high quality with their SEEMP, resulting in intense competition. Consequently, the score point range was extended from 3 to 5 to “winnow the chaff from the wheat”.
- Who picks the best routes?
- Who navigates the weather better?
- Who hits the optimal trim of vessel?
- Who operates the engines best?
- Who has best engine maintenance/performance?
- Who thinks out the best power-saving plan?
The point scores
SEEMP:
Every year the vessels reevaluate their own SEEMP and make an updated plan. Each vessel is then externally evaluated on their own SEEMP with a score between 1 and 5, where 5 points mark strong effort and highly relevant plans for three different departments: Bridge/deck, engine, and galley, whereas 5 shows strong effort and 1 shows lack in effort.
The vessels are accordingly challenged to self-assess how their goals and effort paid off, how it was monitored, as well as assessing next year’s plan. A score from 1 to 5 is given to each vessel, whereas 5 reflects strong effort and 1 lack of effort or relevance.
AER performance:
The AER value for 2023 is compared to 2022, if the IMO rating has changed. Additionally, estimated “AER at sea” value for sailing condition, i.e. removing fuel consumption from port stay and maneuvering shows us how well the vessels actually sail.
Other parameters in a complete performance evaluation include fuel consumption per 24 hours for all machineries, vessel speed, time at sea, time in ballast conditions, as well as time since last docking. The results yield a score from 1 to 5.
