Shipping jargon is sometimes very confusing, so we made a glossary of some of the most important abbreviations and terms. Hopefully this helps you on your way to understand the business better. And feel free to suggest more terms to suggestions@norsepower.com so we can keep adding more terms.
Annual Efficiency Ratio
The AER is a function of a ship’s deadweight tonnage (DWT) — how much weight it can carry in cargo, fuel, crew, fresh water, passengers, supplies, etc. — plus how much and what type of fuel it consumed and how far it traveled in the previous year. This data has been part of an IMO mandatory annual submission since 2019 for ships over 5,000 DWT.
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The AER is used to grade the ship A, B, C, D, or E. Vessels that receive a grade of A, B, or C will be deemed compliant that year. Vessels graded D have a three-year grace period during which the owner will have to somehow get back into compliance, and those graded E will have one year to do so. Importantly, the grading criteria will become tougher every year: The IMO is mandating a 2% annual improvement in AER from 2023 through 2030. Thus, a ship may start with a B grade in 2023, but if no changes are made after as few as six years, it could automatically become a D. If the owner cannot comply, the vessel will have to be removed from service and likely scrapped.
Source: https://hbr.org/2022/10/climate-regulations-are-about-to-disrupt-global-shipping
Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism
The EU’s proposed Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism, slated to become fully operational in 2026, will put a tax on imported products in designated sectors where production-related emissions have not been taxed at the same level by the exporter’s country.
Source: https://hbr.org/2022/10/climate-regulations-are-about-to-disrupt-global-shipping
Carbon Intensity Indicator
The Carbon Intensity Indicator (CII) is a rating system for ships that the International Maritime Organization (IMO) developed. This will be a mandatory measure under MARPOL Annex VI, which comes into force in 2023. The measure will impact all cargo, RoPax and cruise vessels above 5,000 gross tonnage (GT) and trading internationally.
The CII determines the annual reduction factor needed to continuously improve the ship’s operational carbon intensity within a specific rating level. The actual annual operational CII achieved will need to be documented and verified against the required annual operational CII.
This will then enable the operational carbon intensity rating to be determined on a scale of A, B, C, D or E, indicating a major superior, minor superior, moderate, minor inferior, or inferior performance level. The performance level will need to be recorded in the ship’s Ship Energy Efficiency Management Plan (SEEMP). A ship rated D or E for three consecutive years will need to submit a corrective action plan to show how the required index rating (C or above) will be obtained.
Source: https://www.lr.org/en/carbon-intensity-indicator/
Energy Efficiency Design Index
The Energy Efficiency Design Index (EEDI) was made mandatory for new ships and the Ship Energy Efficiency Management Plan (SEEMP) for all ships at MEPC 62 (July 2011) with the adoption of amendments to MARPOL Annex VI (resolution MEPC.203(62)), by Parties to MARPOL Annex VI. This was the first legally binding climate change treaty to be adopted since the Kyoto Protocol.
Source: https://www.imo.org/en/OurWork/Environment/Pages/Technical-and-Operational-Measures.aspx
Energy Efficiency eXisting ship Index
The Energy Efficiency eXisting ship Index (EEXI) is a measure introduced by the IMO to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions of ships. The EEXI is a measure related to the technical design of a ship. Ships have to attain EEXI approval once in a lifetime, by the first periodical survey in 2023 at the latest.
Source: https://www.dnv.com/maritime/insights/topics/eexi/index.html
The EU’s Emissions Trading Scheme
An early version of modern Rotor Sail.
GreenHouse Gas emissions
IMO – the International Maritime Organization – is the United Nations specialized agency with responsibility for the safety and security of shipping and the prevention of marine and atmospheric pollution by ships. IMO’s work supports the UN SDGs.
Souce and more information here.
A phenomenon associated with a spinning object moving through air. The path of the spinning object is deflected by the difference in pressure of the air on opposite sides of the spinning object. The Magnus effect is dependent on the speed of rotation.
As a practical implementation, in Norsepower Rotor Sails™ solution a minimal amount of electricity is used to rotate cylinders are rotated on a ships deck. This rotation combined the wind creates a powerful thrust. The thrust can then be used to throttle back the ship engine, save fuel and cut emissions.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnus_effect & www.norsepower.com
Marine Environment Protection Committee of IMO (International Maritime Organisation)
MPEC addresses environmental issues under IMO’s remit. This includes the control and prevention of ship-source pollution covered by the MARPOL treaty, including oil, chemicals carried in bulk, sewage, garbage and emissions from ships, including air pollutants and greenhouse gas emissions.
Source and more information here.
The founders of Norsepower decided to start calling Norsepower’s novel products Rotor Sails in 2012. With a product name like this, it could be communicated to the market that the product is a radically modernised version of the Flettner rotor, which does exactly the same as a sail of a sailing ship. Later the name was adopted by competitors and media alike.
Rotor Sail uses a minimal amount of the ship’s electricity to rotate cylinders on the ship’s deck. The rotating cylinders use the wind to generate powerful thrust. This allows the main propulsion to be throttled back.
Source: www.norsepower.com
The Ship Energy Efficiency Management Plan (SEEMP) is an operational measure that establishes a mechanism to improve the energy efficiency of a ship in a cost-effective manner. The SEEMP also provides an approach for shipping companies to manage ship and fleet efficiency performance over time using, for example, the Energy Efficiency Operational Indicator (EEOI) as a monitoring tool.
Source: https://www.imo.org/en/OurWork/Environment/Pages/Technical-and-Operational-Measures.aspx#:~:text=The%20Ship%20Energy%20Efficiency%20Management%20Plan%20(SEEMP)%20is%20an%20operational,in%20a%20cost%2Deffective%20manner.
Source: https://hbr.org/2022/10/climate-regulations-are-about-to-disrupt-global-shipping
Source: https://www.dnv.com/expert-story/maritime-impact/more-commercial-ships-utilize-wind-technologies-to-cut-emissions.html
The WASP (Wind Assisted Ship Propulsion) project, funded by the Interreg North Sea Europe programme, part of the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) to the tune of €5.4 million.
Source: https://northsearegion.eu/wasp/
A joint wind propulsion industry project that focuses on making evaluations within EEDI and EEXI and from real operational conditions. The aim is to identify the amount of fuel savings shipowners can achieve, enabling them to make informed investment decisions, while keeping in mind the upcoming CII requirements.
Source: https://www.marin.nl/en/jips/wisp
Source: More commercial ships utilize wind technologies to cut emissions – DNV