Press Release by By Sindre Stemshaug Bornstein - VP Commercial Decarbonisation

In a remarkable display of determination, 133 vessels from 8 prominent offshore vessel owners joined forces this summer to see how much CO2 could be saved when rallying around a common goal. The total emission savings in the two-month period exceeded an incredible 10,000 tons of CO2. The ambitious campaign was initiated by data- and fuels specialist VPS and showcases the emission reductions that can be achieved through smart use of data. Further, it underscores the important role played by crews in leading the way to a more sustainable maritime industry.

This summer a group of leading offshore companies came together in an unprecedented campaign to reduce industry emissions from operations. The results achieved are proof that industry-wide collaboration is an imperative part of the path towards meeting the industry emission reduction targets. The campaign was initiated by data- and fuels specialist VPS and garnered participation from some of the offshore industry's foremost vessel owners: Solstad Offshore, Simon Møkster Shipping, Boskalis Offshore Energy, Rem Offshore, Tidewater, Skansi Offshore, North Sea Shipping, and DOF.

All these vessel owners are already actively working on reducing the emissions footprint from their vessel operations and have incorporated ways of collecting and using vessel data to drive effective decision-making. VPS´ data-driven decarb solution Maress was used by all participating companies and vessels to track the emissions and efficiency of the vessels during the campaign.

The underlying idea behind the initiative was to show by example what is possible to achieve by collaborating and sharing of non-competitive data in the spirit of reducing as much emissions as possible. Some participants referred to the campaign as a friendly competition between vessels across the different companies´ fleets. As the heart of change beats within the vessels themselves, all change starts with the highly competent crews. Tom Karlsen, Technical Manager in Simon Møkster Shipping put it clearly:

"If we as a vessel owner are to succeed in reaching our emission goals, we need to ensure that everyone is involved. The most important piece of the puzzle -by far- is the people working onboard the vessels."

Often, emission reductions in the industry are being discussed on almost abstract level, but the truth of the matter is that most operational emission reductions are a direct result of the decisions made by the people out there operating the vessel. When the crews are provided quality data on vessel efficiency and emissions to support their experience-based decisions it directly leads to savings.

A common theme among the vessel owners and crews  participating in the campaign is the strong focus on operational efficiency and keeping the emissions at a minimum. With solutions like Maress in place the vessel owners ensure that everyone involved in the operations have access to the right data and analytics that help support this focus. This, in turn, underpins a culture where everyone in the company takes pride in contributing towards emission targets. Campaigns like this are a proof that decarbonisation is a topic that unites - and something that crews, shore personnel, and charterers can rally around.

With more than 50 of the participating vessels seeing emission reductions of more than 10% compared to their own past it is difficult to choose which vessels to highlight as the top performers. Nonetheless, two prime examples of subsea vessels that fully committed to the campaign and saw great results were DOF´s Skandi Hugen and Skandi Vinland. EVP Sustainability in DOF, Marianne Møkster commented:

"The great performance from the crew onboard these vessels demonstrate the excellent work our people do on the vessels every day to help us reach our common decarbonisation goals. We participated in the campaign with 14 vessels, and a key aspect for us is to put focus on emission reductions while maintaining the safety of the operations. Having high quality data and decision support is an enabler to achieve these emission savings".

Malcolm Cooper, VPS CEO continues:

"The amount of savings achieved by the vessels in this campaign is just staggering and inspirational. My congratulations to everyone that participated. For us in VPS it is a key part of our strategy to help the industry decarbonise by leveraging the unique data access that we as a company have on maritime fuels and emissions. All the vessels in this campaign are using our data-driven decarb software Maress, and creating collective action and results for our customers - such as in this campaign - is something that we will aspire to do more of".

This campaign highlights the powerful potential of collective action in the pursuit of the industry emission goals. Solstad Offshore´s Chief Sustainability Officer, Tor Inge Dale concludes: "We strive to stay in the forefront of the industry's change towards more sustainable operations, and we firmly believe in collaboration in combination with powerful digital tools such as Maress to facilitate just the kind of benchmarking to make this happen. We´ll be ready for the next campaign, and hopefully with friendly competition against even more vessels and companies wanting to be part of the change".

About VPS

VPS is a world-leading maritime decarbonisation advisory and services company, dedicated to innovation and sustainability. VPS helps maritime companies to identify pathways towards more sustainable operations - by providing insights, digital tools and advice along the entire marine fuels and emissions value chain. VPS is a pioneer in the marine fuel testing industry with over 40 years of experience and has an established position as the clear market leader. VPS´ data-driven decarbonisation solution Maress combines available data from vessels with other relevant datasets to provide insights on how to reduce fuel and emissions. vpsveritas.com

For inquiries, please contact VP Commercial Decarbonisation, Sindre Stemshaug Bornstein: +47 977 500 023 sibo@vpsveritas.com