Solstad Farstad and Yxney Maritime join forces to further develop Solstad Green Operations
SolstadFarstad and Yxney Maritime AS have completed a pilot project to develop and roll out the Yxney fuel efficiency and emission reduction software MarESS. During the pilot, the combination of MarESS and skilled crews generated significant fuel savings for SolstadFarstad and their clients, leading to the contract for implementation for the entire fleet.
“SolstadFarstad’s work with the SolstadFarstad Green Operations campaign is taken to the next level with MarESS,” says Tor Inge Dale, COO in SolstadFarstad. “It provides cost savings for us and our customers, but it also reduces emissions, helping us contribute to reaching UN sustainable development goals 12 and 13, Responsible Production and Consumption, and Climate Action.”
The merger of Solstad Offshore, Farstad Shipping, Deep Sea Supply and REM Offshore created the world’s biggest owner of advanced vessels in the supply, anchor handling, construction and renewable segments, with 147 vessels in total. The size of the fleet allows SolstadFarstad and Yxney to leverage large amounts of data through targeted analytics, identify the best performers across the fleet, and transfer their practice to other ships.
Yxney CEO Gjord Simen Sanna believes that SolstadFarstad’s vast fleet management experience and knowledge was invaluable in the pilot: “They had specific requirements and provided detailed feedback. Having access to their expertise has helped make MarESS a better product.”
Sanna also believes the hands-on history of Yxney’s founders gives them unique insight into fuel consumption and savings: “We have worked offshore on more than 100 vessels, so we can recommend targeted fuel saving measures related to vessel positioning when MarESS identifies efficiency gaps.” He adds that the SolstadFarstad contract is an important step for Yxney toward reaching their goal of facilitating a sustainable maritime enterprise by increasing energy efficiency.
Svein Erik Isaksen, Environmental engineer in SolstadFarstad, looks forward to sharing the new tool with clients: “With MarESS, our clients can login, track each vessel working under their contract and monitor their fuel consumption. They can also communicate with us and the vessel through the system. This helps to keep the dialog focused on tangible factors and measures for improvement, with everyone striving to meet the same goals,” he concludes.
Innovation Norway financed the MarESS pilot. SolstadFarstad and Yxney also perform projects to increase energy efficiency in the fleet with support from Enova, with potential for direct savings pegged at between 8.7 and 11.4 per cent.
After last year’s merger, SolstadFarstad operates out of Skudeneshavn, Norway, with branch offices in Ålesund, Fosnavåg, Grimstad, Australia, Brazil, Singapore, Philippines, United Kingdom, Cyprus and Ukraine.