A lot of debate has gone over the past couple of years on the economics and benefits behind the Eco ship, writes Nikos Roussanoglou in Hellenic Shipping News Worldwide.
The main claim is that these new design vessels are - allegedly - offering huge advantages when it comes to consuming less bunker fuels. The controversy lies in the fact that claims of fuel economy made by various shipyards are proving, so far, difficult to prove.
In any case, an Eco ship comes down to this: It’s a vessel, which, through the process of hull, engine design and new technologies makes a significant saving on costs, predominantly with the main savings being on the engine consumptions.
According to the latest report from London-based shipbroker Gibson: “Many shipyards claim to build Eco vessels with a fuel saving of 25-30%. However finding concrete data to back this up proves challenging. Shipyards are happy to make statements claiming huge savings with their Eco ship designs, lauding higher levels of performance for current new orders, yet they are not actually providing any comparable data.
“This creates a minefield of issues, with shipyards that do deliver on their promises stealing a march on yards that don’t perform, who could find themselves with legal cases and fines for not delivering on ‘Eco’ claims.”
It added that “a number of owners have vehemently contested these claims”, warning that figures have been greatly exaggerated.
Torm CEO Jacob Meldggard commented: “There are a lot of myths. Some have invested in these ships and are promising significant improvements in relation to the existing fleet, calling it an amazing investment. In the other camp, questions are being asked concerning the speed of the new ships, about whether they’ll be able to sail fast enough in bad weather or, if the market savings turns solid again, whether the ships will be sailing with smaller cargoes, and so forth. No one really has a clear answer for these questions.”
