Marine Weather Data for Vessel Performance Optimisation
According to the International Maritime Organization (IMO), 90% of the world’s traded goods are carried by sea. Needless to say, vessel performance has a massive impact on the efficiency of the shipping industry as well as the maritime environment and global climate.
There are a number of factors impacting the efficiency of transportation at sea and one of the key factors is marine weather data. But there is more to it than just currents, waves and wind.
Marine Weather Data – Both Forecast and Historical Data (Hindcast)
Marine weather forecasts with a rich dataset including currents, waves, wind and swell is the foundation of vessel performance solutions. Combined with data from the vessels this goes a long way for analysing and optimising the performance of a certain vessel.
An advantageous addition to weather forecasts is to also include historical weather data in the analysis. Adding historical weather data to the mix allows for analyses of the efficiency of past routes and also helps spotting seasonal trends. This can have a significant impact on performance.
Marine Bio Data & Bathymetry
In addition to Marine Weather Data, Marine Bio Data and Bathymetry has proven very useful to further analyse and optimise ship performance by taking into account biofouling (algae, plants and microorganisms) of hulls. The increased friction of biofouling can increase drag with 60% leading to speed decrease of 10% which can result in up to 40% increase of fuel use (Office of Naval Research).
Including data parameters such as plankton levels, salinity, oxygen level and also sea depth / bathymetry in the vessel performance analysis – the performance of vessels can be optimised even further.
The Marine Bio Data and Bathymetry Data is used both proactively when choosing when, where and how long the vessel is remaining still, and also for routing decisions. But it’s also of interest when analysing performance of vessels in the past.
Enhance Your Marine Weather Data
There are definitely good reasons to include more data than currents, waves and wind in vessel performance solutions. If you are interested in adding more Marine Weather Data to your products within vessel performance monitoring and route optimization – please get in touch or sign up for a free, full feature account today.
