Fabian Kock, Head of Section Environmental Certification, DNV
Dr Fabian Kock currently holds the position of Head of Environmental Certification at DNV in Hamburg, Germany. His section offers the following services: certification of marine diesel engines, marine exhaust gas after treatment systems such as SCR catalysts and scrubbers as well as the certification of the energy efficiency of ships. A laboratory measuring exhaust gas components and particulate matter also lies in his field of responsibility. Additionally, he advises the German Ministry of Transport in technical questions of emissions to air from international shipping at IMO.
Dr Fabian Kock currently holds the position of Head of Environmental Certification at DNV in Hamburg, Germany. His section offers the following services: certification of marine diesel engines, marine exhaust gas after treatment systems such as SCR catalysts and scrubbers as well as the certification of the energy efficiency of ships. A laboratory measuring exhaust gas components and particulate matter also lies in his field of responsibility. Additionally, he advises the German Ministry of Transport in technical questions of emissions to air from international shipping at IMO.
How many vessels have attained EEXI certification so far?
Of the more than 5,000 vessels in DNV class which require EEXI certification, only about 100 have fully approved documentation. Bearing in mind that the verification has to be completed by the first periodical survey in 2023, the percentage of approved vessels is surprisingly low. What is also a bit worrying is that only 20% of our clients have made use of DNV's EEXI support tools. That leaves us with 80% of the fleet not having looked into the EEXI so far!
Of the more than 5,000 vessels in DNV class which require EEXI certification, only about 100 have fully approved documentation. Bearing in mind that the verification has to be completed by the first periodical survey in 2023, the percentage of approved vessels is surprisingly low. What is also a bit worrying is that only 20% of our clients have made use of DNV's EEXI support tools. That leaves us with 80% of the fleet not having looked into the EEXI so far!
How can I see my individual EEXI deadline?
DNV has a compliance planner tool which offers customers a complete list of their vessels and their individual status in connection with the EEXI. All DNV clients can access the Compliance Planner via MyServices in Veracity.
Is there a risk that in the end not everyone will be able to meet the individual deadline due to capacity problems at the verifiers, engine manufacturers or other system providers?
What we can see is that most owners will install some kind of overridable power limitation in order to comply with the required EEXI. The installation of such systems on board the vessels in such a short timeframe could result in a temporary shortage of engineers available to install the equipment if many shipowners decide on last-minute approval. DNV is however well prepared and will make sure that everybody meets their individual deadlines. But to be on the safe side shipowners should hand in their data at least four weeks before the periodical survey.
Fabian Kock, Head of Section Environmental Certification, DNV
Are there any particular challenges customers have faced during the certification process so far?
In order to achieve lower EEXI values and to reduce the required power limitation or speed reduction, it is advised to make use of approved speed-power curves from speed trials instead of using the fallback solution of conservative formulas. Particularly for older ships, it might be challenging to get hold of such documents, since for non-EEDI vessels speed-power curves have not been approved by class and are therefore not stored in DNV's archives. So owners and managers should consolidate all relevant documents well ahead of time. If such documents are not available, the regulations by IMO allow for more conservative calculations, however with the drawback of higher attained EEXI values. This means that much larger speed reductions have to be applied in order to achieve the required EEXI value.
In order to achieve lower EEXI values and to reduce the required power limitation or speed reduction, it is advised to make use of approved speed-power curves from speed trials instead of using the fallback solution of conservative formulas. Particularly for older ships, it might be challenging to get hold of such documents, since for non-EEDI vessels speed-power curves have not been approved by class and are therefore not stored in DNV's archives. So owners and managers should consolidate all relevant documents well ahead of time. If such documents are not available, the regulations by IMO allow for more conservative calculations, however with the drawback of higher attained EEXI values. This means that much larger speed reductions have to be applied in order to achieve the required EEXI value.
How does DNV's EEXI tool support owners?
Our digital EEXI tool is free of charge and provides support during the entire verification process. It enables all registered clients to review the required EEXI and calculate the attained EEXI of each vessel. To make the calculation process as efficient as possible, the calculator is pre-filled with data approved by DNV. The tool guides our clients through the whole calculation process and offers all possible options and correction factors which will improve the attained EEXI. For instance, corrections due to installed cranes on general cargo ships or higher installed power due to redundant propulsion on shuttle tankers. The EEXI results page shows whether the attained EEXI meets the required EEXI. In case it does not, it will provide the required overridable engine power limitation (EPL) as one possible route to compliance. Once the compliance option has been finalized, it generates the EEXI technical file, which in the next step can be submitted for approval. The good news is that the tool is also available for non-DNV-classed vessels.
Source: DNV
The opinions expressed herein are the author's and not necessarily those of The Xinde Marine News.
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