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DNV Petroleum Services (DNVPS) has released Fuel Insight, an advanced data analytics product for bunker fuel, providing real-time information on deliveries around the world as an aid for effective procurement and benchmarking.

Fuel Insight is a subscription-based web application that taps into DNVPS’ live bunker quality database. It distils complex data on fuel prices, ISO 8217 fuel specification parameters and regulatory compliance into accurate insights for supplier evaluation and purchase decision-making, helping ship charterers, operators and owners optimise costs and reduce risks.

Bunkers make up a large fraction of a vessel’s operational costs. As fuel prices continue to soar, many shipping companies are now facing considerable pressure on their bottom lines. Moreover, volatile fuel quality trends, supply chain developments and increasingly stricter environmental regulations are also complicating the fuel management function.

“The launch of Fuel Insight is therefore a very timely one”, according to DNV Petroleum Services managing director Tore Morten Wetterhus. “At today’s extremely high bunker prices, getting the best value in fuel purchases is a must, especially for shipping companies struggling to stay afloat. Fuel Insight can help bunker buyers and fleet operators decide on sources that yield optimum value, based on the test results of delivered bunkers captured in our database.”

Fuel Insight further benchmarks various bunker performance indicators of individual vessels and fleets against industry averages. By integrating this data analytics tool into their overall fuel management process, DNVPS says ship operators can identify significant improvement opportunities that translate to substantial cost savings. Besides fuel buyers, Mr Wetterhus says bunker traders, brokers and suppliers can also use Fuel Insight as a quality control tool to monitor their own products.

Following extensive discussions with the shipping industry, DNVPS has developed five key features in Fuel Insight:

Price Correction Calculator estimates the corrected bunker prices quoted by suppliers, taking into account their historical fuel delivery performances in density deviations (values reported in Bunker Delivery Notes as compared to tested results), sediment content and fuel energy. The energy component is included by comparing the energy content of delivered bunkers to the global energy average for the fuel grade concerned. From the calculated price correction, a financial loss or gain (in US dollars) and a quantity loss or gain (in metric tonnes) are instantly listed to give an easy to read benchmark.

Reporting Benchmark compares the selected supplier’s Bunker Delivery Note values for density, sulphur and viscosity against lab-tested results.

Statutory Benchmark evaluates the compliance record of the selected supplier’s deliveries in relation to sulphur and flashpoint regulatory requirements.

Financial Benchmark is similar to the Price Correction Calculator, except that the reporting is on a 0-100 scale, instead of US dollars or metric tonnes.

Technical Benchmark analyses the technical quality of the selected supplier’s products by evaluating critical ISO 8217 bunker quality parameters weighted according to their levels of importance.

The score for each of the four benchmarks ranges from 0 (worst) to 100 (best). When appraising the overall performance of the selected supplier according to these benchmarks, Fuel Insight users can assign different weights (Low, Medium or High) to each, or exclude any of the benchmarks. The overall score, ranging from 0 to 100, is an arithmetic average of all selected scores.