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Emissions verification company Verifavia today announced that it has fully certified VAF Instruments' IVY Propulsion Performance Management system against the European Union's (EU) Monitoring Reporting and Verification (MRV) regulation requirements.

The IVY system has been designed to automatically monitor and report voyages in order to streamline both the EU MRV and IMO DCS compliance processes for fleet managers, ship owners, and operators. In addition, it provides information regarding the performance of a ship's hull, its propeller, and engine, which can potentially be used by ship owners to generate savings on their vessel operations.

With inbuilt sensors and fuel oil flowmeters, the IVY system conducts several cross-checks for advanced performance analysis, ensuring accurate fuel oil consumption data is obtained. Ships equipped with the full system will be able to achieve compliance with minimal manual action required, Verifavia says.

Erik van Ballegooijen, R&D team coordinator and technical consultant for hydromechanics, VAF Instruments, commented: "As a market leader in maritime measurement systems, we pride ourselves on providing solutions that enable the shipping industry to obtain actionable insights into a vessel's propulsion performance. We're proud to have been able to optimise IVY to not only support ship owners and operators in complying with EU MRV and IMO DCS regulations, but also to enable the achievement of tangible fuel savings onboard, resulting in an overall reduction in operational expenditure."

Over the years, VAF Instruments has developed advanced algorithms capable of automatically interpreting Big Data to create Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) on which decisions for ship performance optimisation can be based. This Performance Management solution by IVY - which is based on measuring the thrust of a ship's propeller - includes the automatically performed enrichment of Big Data.

To achieve full certification, the IVY Propulsion Performance Management system had to undergo a thorough review against the requirements of the EU MRV Regulation 2015/757. In addition, VAF Instruments had to demonstrate that its system meets the MRV data collection requirements and follows the best practices set by the ISO standard 25051 on software engineering.

Nicolas Duchene, Technical Director, Verifavia Shipping, remarked: "Our experienced team of EU MRV and IMO DCS auditors were impressed with the sophistication, process, and functionality of the IVY Propulsion Performance Management system. In addition, the VAF instruments team was very efficient and professional throughout the entire certification process, and we have every confidence that their innovative system will accurately and transparently support shipping companies in complying with the EU MRV Regulation but also with the IMO DCS regulation further down the line."

According to the EU MRV regulation, shipping companies with vessels exceeding 5,000 gross tonnage (GT) and calling at an EU port on or after January 1, 2018, for commercial purposes must report fuel consumption and carbon emissions on all voyages, as well as emissions while at berth. Additional required information includes distance travelled, time spent at sea, details of the cargo carried, transport work, and average energy efficiency expressed in fuel consumption or carbon emissions per distance or per transport work.

In addition, the IMO has outlined a roadmap through to 2023 which is focused on developing a comprehensive strategy for the reduction of GHG emissions from shipping. In April 2015, the IMO's Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) agreed to mandatory requirements for ships to record and report data on their fuel consumption. At MEPC70 in October 2016, it was decided that these requirements would be adopted as modifications to MARPOL Annex VI.

The IVY system is fully automated, and enables ship owners and operators to easily collect all relevant data required for compliance with the IMO Data Collection System (IMO DCS) and the EU MRV regulations.

Image: VAF Instruments' IVY Propulsion Performance Management system. Credit: VAT Instruments/Vimeo.