Volga Shipping Company says the first stage of the energy-saving program, set up by the Volga Shipping in 2012, is completed. The result of the five-year work is improvement of the fuel consumption indicators on the vessels of all projects: specific fuel consumption rate (fuel consumption in tons / vessel day) decreased by 5.6% or by 0.28 tons/vessel day.
High-quality fleet repair holds the leading position in the energy-saving program.
The Volgo-Don type vessels repair includes sea crust cleaning, followed by anti-fouling painting, which reduces fuel and lubricants consumption significantly. Such measures have reduced the norms of specific fuel consumption for the repaired vessels by 10%.
Working fuel equipment and timely adjustment of the engines significantly reduce energy consumption. Before the navigation start and on the request of the Russian River Register heating engineering service specialists provide control and adjustment tests of engines using modern diagnostic equipment.
The vessels are equipped with monitoring systems, enabling to control the amount of fuel on board and vessel motion modes. In the last five years ten vessels of the RSD44 project and six vessels of the Volgo-Don type have been equipped with such systems. By the beginning of 2017 navigation three more vessels of the Volgo-Don type and a pusher tug will be equipped with monitoring systems.
For efficient use of heavy fuels on dry cargo vessels of the RSD44 project and on pusher tugs, equipped with bifuel systems, modern chemical fuel additives are used. This solution enables to reduce fuel consumption and harmful emissions.
Within the framework of the Collective Labor Contract obligations (of the energy-saving program) the Volga Shipping Company proceeded with the practice of awarding crews for careful and economical fuel consumption.
By the decree of the President of the Russian Federation the 2017 is announced in Russia to be the year of environmental protection. River transport as one of the most environmentally friendly types of transport (low noise threshold, low rates of harmful emissions (NOx, CO2), is involved in the environmental development of the country.