Odfjell’s weather routing service has been in action for a decade
2020 marks the eleventh year that Odfjell’s weather routing service has been in action. Originally a test project 2009, weather routing was introduced to help the captains choose the safest and most efficient sailing routes. Odfjell ships have around 4,000 ports calls every year.
It said in a statement: “As a global, long-term operator handling hazardous cargo, we depend on safe and predictable solutions. By using digital programs and professional weather forecast services supplied from StormGeo, routes are optimized and Odfjell’s Fleet Performance Analyst can supervise the entire voyage – securing the safest, most efficient sailing route.”
VP Technology Erik Hjortland was fleet performance analyst and initiative-maker when the project was introduced: “By the time we designed our route optimization concept, we had carefully analyzed the fleet’s movements for more than one year, and could document that there was a potential to give better decision support to our captains in strategic route planning.”
He said technology at the time had reached a level where this was possible, but that this was “only an enabler”.
In the end, it was about getting experts together to ensure that all aspects of route planning were taken into consideration – namely the captains, supported by a team of oceanographers and meteorologists, all followed up by a dedicated Odfjell team onshore who also liaised with the ship manager and ship operator.
He added: “We knew that this would be a challenging project to implement, which is why we had a high focus on documentation from the very beginning. There will always be many opinions in these types of projects, and it was quite a challenge to sell the concept at first, both in the office and on the ships. Sharing the documentation with the organization through case studies was vital. After a couple of years, the skepticism had generally turned to positivity.”
It is estimated that the weather service alone has saved a solid 48,605 cbm in emissions and about 18, 000,000 USD in savings over the past ten years. In 2019, more than 66 ships in the fleet followed StormGeo’s recommended route over 145 times.
For more information visit www.stormgeo.com
17th January 2020
