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Cruise vessel operator Carnival Corporation & plc has signed an agreement with Swedish marine fuel system manufacturer Jowa Technology to install fuel switching equipment and provide related training on board Carnival's cruise ships.

Under the agreement, Jowa will install its Diesel Switch DS MKII (DSMKII) automated fuel management system, which the company says is the world’s first fully-automated switch over and blending system with a class society approval certificate - from Germanischer Lloyd.

The system mixes heavy fuel oil (HFO) and low sulphur marine diesel oil (MDO)/ marine gas oil (MGO) to the precise sulphur content for traffic in Emission Control Areas (ECA).

The agreement follows a period of extensive testing on board the Princess Cruises cruise ship Grand Princess [pictured]. Carnival says it believes that the automated fuel switching system can save fuel by optimising fuel changeover time when transiting in or out of emission control areas and that the system will reduce the potential for crew error.

In addition to being the only unit in the market that carries Class Society Type Approval, the DSMKII has also been acknowledged by the United States Coast Guard as capable of improving the safety of fuel changeover operations.

The DS MKII has the built in capability to blend compatible heavy and distillate fuels, using in-line fuel blending to safely mix two compatible fuels to obtain a final product with constant, pre-set sulphur content in accordance with local regulations. To ensure the blending compatibility of two fuels, Jowa supplies a simple, portable testing kit for use by ship’s personnel.

Further, the DS MKII has full control over the temperature gradient during fuel changeover, thus minimising risk of thermal shock, gassing, and the potential risk for loss of power.

The Jowa system also offers an electronic data storage feature which includes start, stop, sulphur content of HFO, MDO and blend Fuel, longitude, latitude, date and time.