ISO 19030, a first-ever International Standard designed to enable reliable hull and propeller efficiency measurement, is finally nearing publication.
Development of the Standard has taken over 12,000 hours of development work involving 53 expert stakeholders across more than three years. The ISO prescribes practical methods for measuring changes in ship-specific hull and propeller performance, has now been approved by the ISO’s Draft International Standard (DIS) ballot, with 93% of country representatives voting in its favour. This approval paves the way for final publication, with ISO 19030 expected to be publically available at the end of Q3 2016.
Geir Axel Oftedahl, Jotun’s Business Development Director, Hull Performance Solutions, managed the project on behalf of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and is clear about its importance. “Poor hull and propeller performance is estimated to account for around 10 per cent of the world fleet’s energy costs (USD 30 billion),” he notes. “There are very effective solutions for improving performance but, until now, no globally recognised and standardised way for measuring this and providing return on investment for ship owners. ISO 19030 satisfies that demand, prescribing measurement methodology and defining performance indicators for hull and propeller maintenance, repair and retrofit activities.
“We believe this will provide much needed transparency for both buyers and sellers of fuel saving technologies and solutions, and, in doing so, enable the industry to operate with genuinely enhanced efficiency and environmental performance.”
Oftedahl has, since 2013, managed a project involving 53 experts in an ISO working group convened by Svend Søyland of Nordic Energy Research in a bid to develop a standard that is comprehensive, accurate and workable worldwide. This wide-ranging group encompasses ship owners, ship builders, class societies, paint manufacturers, performance monitoring companies and research institutions.
With the standard now on the cusp of final approval, Jotun is moving to ensure that its proprietary HPS offering is fully compliant.
“The standard gives customers peace of mind and we’re acknowledging that by refining our HPS High Performance guarantee,” he comments. HPS is Jotun’s market leading solution combining SeaQuantum X200 silyl methacrylate antifouling coating technology with a full suite of sensors to measure hull performance and speed loss.
“Previously we used our own methodology as the basis for the guarantee, promising to refund customers the cost of the HPS upgrade if their vessel hulls failed to meet performance targets,” Oftedahl explains. “However, now that a universal standard is so close to publication, we will use it as the foundation for the guarantee, effectively leading the industry with the first ISO/DIS 19030 compliant performance promise.”
HPS, which launched to the market in 2011, has proved its efficacy in delivering long-term efficiency and performance gains. In March Jotun released data for its the first ever five year dry-docking of a vessel treated with the solution – Gearbulk’s Penguin Arrow – showing that it recorded a fuel saving of USD 1.5million, cutting CO2 emissions by some 12,055 tonnes, across the 60-month period.