Unlocking the Power of Digitalization for CII Improvements

Digitalization is one of the best and most cost-effective ways to track the environmental performance of your fleet and improve its CII rating during daily operations. However, this does not mean any digital tool can unlock these benefits. Choosing the appropriate digital tool is critical to unlocking the power of CII improvement.

The Importance of Data Quality for CII Calculations

Data quality is critical when calculating the CII value because even just a tiny data error may lead to a vessel downgrade from a C to a D rating in the CII rating scheme.

Although some shipping companies have used conventional data collection systems (DCS) to comply with IMO DCS, these systems may have several disadvantages making them unsuitable for calculating CII values. For example, if the fuel consumption is summarized by voyage, then the corrections and adjustments in the IMO CII regulation will not be able to include it. Suppose the annual fuel consumption is reported based on bunker delivery notes (BDN). In that case, the fuel consumption or emission will be overestimated by counting BDN shortage and sludge as fuel consumption. If the data is regularly reported from ship to shore, then the real-time CII rating of the ship cannot be determined.

The Benefits of Digital Tools

To comply with the upcoming CII rating scheme, shipowners and operators should consider using more advanced data reporting systems to ensure higher data quality, such as StormGeo’s advanced data reporting system, s-Insight Log.

s-Insight Log is an event-based reporting system offering intelligent data validation that immediately alerts officers to potential reporting errors or implausible data. Furthermore, the system even ensures that the data quality is validated by our experts in StormGeo’s Fleet Performance Center.

After assuring data quality, shipowners and operators can use digital tools, such as StormGeo’s CII Dashboard, to monitor the CII value and rating of each ship in the fleet onshore. With the CII dashboard, owners and operators can quickly identify the ships with lower CII ratings and implement several optimization methods to improve their CII ratings.

According to the 2022 Guideline SEEMP Part III, any ship with CII rating D for three consecutive years or rating E should submit a corrective action plan. The plan should consist of an analysis of the cause for the low CII rating and an analysis of the performance of implemented measures. That further illustrates the importance of data analysis to comply with IMO CII.

CII Rating Impacts by Operational Factors

After working with a range of customers, we have identified key technical management and operation areas that can help improve the CII rating of a ship.

Technical Management
Shipping companies can improve the IMO DCS data quality to improve the CII rating of a ship, for example, via StormGeo’s data reporting system s-Insight Log.

Furthermore, hull fouling and trim problems will provide extra resistance to the ship, thereby influencing its CII rating. By using StormGeo s-insight Technical, shipping companies can analyze the hull and propeller performance and perform trim optimization to help avoid any increases in fuel consumption that can influence the ship’s CII rating.

Since fuel consumption affects the CII rating, engine efficiency and operation also become important to keep track of. StormGeo’s s-Insight Technical helps improve engine performance, while our Fleet Performance Center can provide alerts for the engine performance, assisting shore-based officers in working closely together with onboard crews to improve fuel efficiency.

Operations 
For operations, speed, weather conditions can impact the CII rating. These factors can be improved through StormGeo’s weather routing and voyage optimization solutions. Besides, distance, cargo weight, including trade routes and idling time, greatly influences the CII rating as the distance is used to calculate the CII value. StormGeo’s CII Simulator can simulate the impact of the voyage and trade routes to the CII rating. Based on the results of the CII simulation, shipowners can make better commercial decisions on the trade routes to ensure a competitive CII rating.

How to Improve CII Ratings with StormGeo’s CII Simulator

How you operate a ship during a voyage will directly affect its CII rating. The dynamic chart in StormGeo's CII Simulator allows shipowners and operators to monitor CII ratings in near real-time. The graph also shows different operating conditions such as at sea, in port, and in maneuvering.

See the screenshot below for an example. In this example, we have a ship with a CII rating of D. From the graph, we can also note that the ship spent significant time in port and maneuvering without spending too much time at sea. This means the ship suffers from a lower CII rating due to short, accumulated sailing distances and continuous CO2 emissions, whether in port, at sea, or in maneuvering.

To improve the ship’s CII rating, shipowners and operators can leverage the CII simulator to simulate the CII rating and the value of the ship’s next voyage by inputting the information for the next voyage, such as distance, draft, and desired CII. After that, shipowners and operators can vary the speed on the diagrams related to speed vs. CII / consumption to predict the change of CII value if the ship operates at different speeds.

Alternatively, shipowners and operators can use the CII simulator to predict the ship’s CII rating by the end of the year. Similar to the end-of-voyage simulation, shipowners and operators can input the voyage plan and maintenance events to project the CII rating of the ship by the end of the year. If the ship attains a CII rating of C by the end of the year, shipowners and operators can continue the current operation plan without implementing any operation measures.

Advanced digital tools play a vital role when shipowners and operators monitor and analyze the performance of their ships. The CII rating can be improved through digitally-driven operations excellence. As the IMO CII regulation soon comes into effect, this is the time to accelerate your digitalization plan.