Scientists develop new method to help shipping firms save costs and go green

Amid concerns over rising fuel prices, a new method developed by Singapore and Greece researchers holds promise to help shipping firms save costs and go green.

It does so by allowing them to more accurately and easily account for the impact of the added resistance that ships at sea encounter from waves.

Researchers from NTU Singapore and National Technical University of Athens (NTUA) estimate that the method has the potential to reduce fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions of a ship by 5 to 10 per cent.

Called the SHOPERA-NTUA-NTU-MARIC (SNNM) method, it has been included in guidelines under the United Nation’s International Maritime Organisation (IMO). The maritime industry is also working to use the method to help update an existing International Organisation for Standardisation standard. This revision is expected to be completed in 2023.

Developed by Dr Liu Shukui of NTU Singapore’s School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and Prof Apostolos Papanikolaou from NTUA, the method has been a decade in the making.

With the support of the Marine Design and Research Institute of China (MARIC), the method has been validated and promoted internationally by the International Towing Tank Conference, an association of worldwide organisations that has observer status with IMO.

Read more about this story on the NTU Research Hub.