Incois unveils new product to curb ships’ fuel consumption
Hyderabad: Shipping companies can lower the fuel consumption of their vessels plying on some key sea lanes, thanks to a new product unveiled by the Hyderabad-based Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (Incois).
The Institute has launched a customised service for the shipping industry in the form of daily bulletins on Ocean State Forecast along standard shipping routes, covering standard sea lanes in the Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal.
The bulletins will provide ocean surface information and forecasts on winds, swell waves, sea currents, high waves and rainfall for the following two days. This would help ships to make changes in their routes to avoid sea and weather turbulence.
“Weather routing of ships plays an important role in fuel savings,” said Shipping Corporation of India chairman Arun Kumar Gupta, who launched the Incois product. “Wind speeds, swell waves and other ocean conditions make an impact on the speed of the ship and fuel consumption.
“For instance, a ship facing heavy winds will consume more fuel than while plying through gentle weather conditions. With these bulletins, we can now steer our ships through better weather routes, which will help in lowering fuel consumption.”