Methods, devices and computer readable media for estimating fuel consumption of a marine vessel

Abstract

The present application provides methods, devices and computer readable media for estimating fuel consumption of a marine vessel. In an embodiment, there is provided a method of estimating fuel consumption of a marine vessel. The method comprises determining an activity of a marine vessel in response to GPS coordinates of the marine vessel and a speed of the marine vessel; and generating a fuel consumption estimate based on the activity of the marine vessel.

Description

METHODS, DEVICES AND COMPUTER READABLE MEDIA FOR ESTIMATING FUEL CONSUMPTION OF A MARINE VESSELTECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present specification relates broadly, but not exclusively, to methods, devices and computer readable media for estimating fuel consumption of a marine vessel.BACKGROUND

[0002] Marine vessels consume large amounts of fuel. Generally, a marine vessel begins its voyage based on a fuel consumption contract with a pre-determined amount of fuel consumption determined based on historical fuel consumptions from past trips. Such a pre-determined amount of fuel consumption is also called a declared fuel consumption.

[0003] However, different types of vessels have different operating characteristics or parameters that can affect their fuel usage efficiency. In addition, even for a same trip from point A to point B performed by a same vessel at different times, external factors such as sea state, temperature, or different tasks or activities performed during the trip, can have an impact in the actual amounts of fuel consumed. Therefore, the declared fuel consumptions that rely on historical data of past trips are often not accurate and have significant room for accuracy improvement.

[0004] A need therefore exists to provide more accurate fuel consumption estimations for marine vessels.SUMMARY

[0005] According to an embodiment, there is provided a method of estimating fuel consumption of a marine vessel, the method comprising: determining an activity of a marine vessel in response to GPS coordinates of the marine vessel and a speed of the marine vessel; and generating a fuel consumption estimate based on the activity of the marine vessel.

[0006] According to another embodiment, there is provided a device for estimating fuel consumption of a marine vessel. The marine vessel comprises at least one processor; and a memory including computer program code for execution by the at least one processor, the computer program code instructing the at least one processor to: determine an activity of a marine vessel in response to GPS coordinates of the marine vessel and a speed of the marine vessel; and generate a fuel consumption estimate based on the activity of the marine vessel.

[0007] According to yet another embodiment, there is provided a non-transitory computer readable storage medium having instructions encoded thereon that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform one or more steps in a method of estimating fuel consumption of a marine vessel as described herein.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0008] Embodiments and implementations are provided by way of example only, and will be better understood and readily apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art from the following written description, read in conjunction with the drawings, in which:

[0009] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of a device 100 for estimating fuel consumption of a marine vessel, according to an embodiment.

[0010] Figure 2A shows a flow chart illustrating a method 200 of estimating fuel consumption of a marine vessel, according to an embodiment.

[0011] Figure 2B shows a schematic diagram of another embodiment 250 of the method 200 of estimating fuel consumption of a marine vessel.

[0012] Figure 3A shows an example 300 of various vessel activities.

[0013] Figure 3B shows three embodiments 308, 310, 312 each depicting a marine vessel travelling at a speed at a location and a corresponding activity determined based on the speed and the location according to the present application.

[0014] Figures 4A to 4C show an embodiment where an activity is associated with a corresponding fuel consumption value. In this embodiment, a fuel consumption estimate is generated based on the corresponding fuel consumption value and a duration of the activity.

[0015] Figure 4D shows an example 404 of VTS data of a marine vessel obtained during a past trip.

[0016] Figure 5A shows a schematic diagram 500 of another embodiment of the method 200 of estimating fuel consumption of a marine vessel.

[0017] Figure 5B shows another schematic diagram 505 of another embodiment of the method 200 of estimating fuel consumption of a marine vessel.

[0018] Figure 5C depicts an example 520 of exemplary adjustment of vessel activity and machinery usage based on vessel’s location and speed for a non-material marine vessel.

[0019] Figure 5D depicts another example 550 of exemplary adjustment of vessel activity and machinery usage based on vessel’s location and speed for a non-material marine.

[0020] Figure 6A shows an example 600 of Vessel Daily Report (VDR).

[0021] Figure 6B depicts an embodiment of a fuel curve 605 established from three or more data points obtained from pre-existed data.

[0022] Figure 7A shows an embodiment of scheduled itinerary of a marine vessel for an upcoming or ongoing trip. The scheduled itinerary includes a plurality of pre-determined locations that the marine vessel plans to travel by, and the marine vessel’s target arrival time and / or target departure time for each of the plurality of pre-determined locations.

[0023] Figure 7B shows a portion of satellite map illustrating the scheduled itinerary exemplified in Figure 7A.

[0024] Figure 8 depicts an embodiment 800 of a visualisation output of comparison between a fuel consumption estimate and a declared fuel consumption in a period of time.

[0025] Figure 9 depicts an embodiment 900 of a visualisation output of activities comparison in a fuel consumption estimate, a fuel consumption forecast, and a declared fuel consumption for a trip.

[0026] Figure 10 shows a block diagram of a computer system 1000 suitable for use as a device for estimating fuel consumption of a marine vessel in accordance with various embodiments as described herein.

[0027] Figures 11-21 depict visualisation outputs of examples of optimised vessel route planning, activity scheduling, fuel purchasing, fuel consumption planning, vessel route / schedule adherence, cross sector optimisation, etc based on the fuel consumption estimation as described herein.

[0028] Skilled artisans will appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been depicted to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the illustrations, block diagrams or flowcharts may be exaggerated in respect to other elements to help to improve understanding of the present embodiments.DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0029] Embodiments will be described, by way of example only, with reference to the drawings. Like reference numerals and characters in the drawings refer to like elements or equivalents.

[0030] Some portions of the description which follows are explicitly or implicitly presented in terms of algorithms and functional or symbolic representations of operations on data within a computer memory. These algorithmic descriptions and functional or symbolic representations are the means used by those skilled in the data processing arts to convey most effectively the substance of their work to others skilled in the art. An algorithm is here, and generally, conceived to be a self-consistent sequence of steps leading to a desired result. The steps are those requiring physical manipulations of physical quantities, such as electrical, magnetic or optical signals capable of being stored, transferred, combined, compared, and otherwise manipulated.

[0031] Unless specifically stated otherwise, and as apparent from the following, it will be appreciated that throughout the present specification, discussions utilizing terms such as “determining”, “generating”, “mapping”, “identifying”, “calculating”, “obtaining”, “estimating”, “comparing” or the like, refer to the action and processes of a computer system, or similar electronic device, that manipulates and transforms data represented as physical quantities within the computer system into other data similarly represented as physical quantities within the computer system or other information storage, transmission or display devices.

[0032] The present specification also discloses apparatus for performing the operations of the methods. Such apparatus may be specially constructed for the required purposes, or may comprise a computer or other device selectively activated or reconfigured by a computer program stored in the computer. The algorithms and displays presented herein are not inherently related to any particular computer or other apparatus. Various machines may be used with programs in accordance with the teachings herein. Alternatively, the construction of more specialized apparatus to perform the required method steps may be appropriate. The structure of a computer suitable for executing the various methods I processes described herein will appear from the description below.

[0033] In addition, the present specification also implicitly discloses a computer program, in that it would be apparent to the person skilled in the art that the individual steps of the method described herein may be put into effect by computer code. The computer program is not intended to be limited to any particular programming language and implementation thereof. It will be appreciated that a variety of programming languages and coding thereof may be usedto implement the teachings of the specification contained herein. Moreover, the computer program is not intended to be limited to any particular control flow. There are many other variants of the computer program, which can use different control flows without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention.

[0034] Furthermore, one or more of the steps of the computer program may be performed in parallel rather than sequentially. Such a computer program may be stored on any computer readable medium. The computer readable medium may include storage devices such as magnetic or optical disks, memory chips, or other storage devices suitable for interfacing with a computer. The computer readable medium may also include a hard-wired medium such as exemplified in the Internet system, or wireless medium such as exemplified in the GSM mobile telephone system. The computer program when loaded and executed on such a computer effectively results in an apparatus that implements the steps of the preferred method.

[0035] This specification uses the term “configured to” in connection with systems, devices, and computer program components. For a system of one or more computers to be configured to perform particular operations or actions means that the system has installed on it software, firmware, hardware, or a combination of them that in operation cause the system to perform the operations or actions. For one or more computer programs to be configured to perform particular operations or actions means that the one or more programs include instructions that, when executed by data processing apparatus, cause the apparatus to perform the operations or actions. For special-purpose logic circuitry to be configured to perform particular operations or actions means that the circuitry has electronic logic that performs the operations or actions.

[0036] In the present application, it is noted that even for a same marine vessel, travelling at a same speed at different locations may mean the marine vessel is on task for different activities. For example, a vessel travelling a speed of 0 to 0.2 knots (i.e., 0 to 0.2 nautical miles per hour) at a supply base would normally carry out jetty works at the supply base. On the other hand, the same vessel having the same speed of 0 to 0.2 knots at or near a platform would normally carry out cargo works or passenger transfer works. These different activities may require different numbers of engines to provide different powers of propulsion, which in turn result in different fuel consumptions. In light of this, the present application provides methods that estimate fuel consumptions based on activities instead of past fuel consumptions, which adventurously produce more accurate fuel consumption estimations compared to those “declared” fuel consumptions.

[0037] Figure 1 illustrates a schematic diagram of a device 100 for estimating fuel consumption of a marine vessel. The device 100 at least includes one or more processor 102 and a memory 104. The at least one processor 102 and the memory 104 are interconnected. The memory 104 includes computer program code (not shown in Figure 1) for execution by the at least one processor 102 to perform steps as exemplified in method 200 for estimating fuel consumption of a marine vessel as shown in Figure 2 and described in the following paragraphs. The device can be implemented as a computing device on the vessel or at a server administering a vessel management system in communication with the vessel.

[0038] As shown in Figure 2, the method 200 comprises steps 202 and 204. It is understood by those skilled in the art that the method 200 may include more steps in other embodiments based on practical needs.

[0039] In step 202, the computer program code instructs the at least one processor 102 to determine an activity of a marine vessel in response to GPS coordinates of the marine vessel and a speed of the marine vessel.

[0040] The GPS coordinates of the marine vessel can be obtained continuously during a trip. In some embodiments, the GPS coordinates of the marine vessel can be obtained from a Vessel Tracking System (VTS) in communication with the marine vessel via VTS pings. The VTS is a third party tracking system with a device installed onboard the marine vessel, which feeds location, speed, and / or similar data to a satellite / server.

[0041] The VTS pings can be obtained daily and at a pre-set frequency. For example, the VTS service can be provided by a third party provider such as Meridian. A server of the third party provider can pull VTS pings directly from marine vessels / ships at a frequency of e.g. every 7 minutes. These VTS pings can then be retrieved from the third party provider, e.g. at a frequency of every 10 minutes, by a data hub or a server of a vessel management system that is in communication with a network of marine vessels. The marine vessel can in turn obtain the VTS pings from the data hub, e.g., at a frequency of every 15 minutes. In other examples, the marine vessel can obtain the VTS pings directly from the third party provider. Greater granularity in data sampling would result in higher accuracy in estimation. Therefore, the more frequent the VTS pings are obtained, the more accurate the fuel consumption estimation can be achieved. However, a higher frequency of VTS pinging, e.g., every 1 second, would require more resources and higher capacity of data processing, which may introduce calculation burden to the device 100. Therefore, it is understandable to those skilled in the art that the frequency of VTS pinging can be adjusted, e.g., to every 30 minutes or every 1 hour, basedon the balance of practical needs. Aside from VTS pings, it is understandable to those skilled in the art that the GPS coordinates can be obtained in other manners.

[0042] An embodiment of a VTS ping 402 is shown in Figure 4A. The VTS ping 402 is obtained for a marine vessel named ALKAHFI CARE at a time point. The VTS ping 402 comprises the marine vessel’s GPS coordinates formed by latitude of 5.1388167 and longitude of 104.7031167. The GPS coordinates will be used together with speed of the marine vessel to determine the activity of the marine vessel and subsequently, a fuel consumption estimate of the marine vessel, as shown in Figure 4A and described in the corresponding description. Figure 4D shows an example 404 that lists VTS data of a marine vessel named Alkahfi Maryam obtained during a trip from 1 February to 2 February 2019. It can be seen from the example 404 that the VTS data includes GPS coordinates and speed of the marine vessel as certain timepoints. Vessel type can also be included in the VTS data if deemed necessary for potential analysis.

[0043] In some embodiments, in step 202, when determining the activity of the marine vessel, the computer program code can instruct the at least one processor 102 to map the GPS coordinates of the marine vessel to a pre-determined location and identify the activity of the marine vessel based on the speed and the mapped pre-determined location.

[0044] For most trips, vessel routes are pre-determined. A marine vessel starts its voyage with a scheduled itinerary listing a plurality of pre-determined locations to travel by for respective activities. The pre-determined locations include one or more of a platform, a supply base, a mooring buoy, and open sea. It is understandable to those skilled in the art that open sea refers to the area of an ocean outside of coastal areas. GPS coordinates of the pre-determined locations can be retrieved from a database either stored on the device 100 or on a server of the VTS in communication with the marine vessel. When the GPS coordinates of the marine vessel tally with GPS coordinates of one of these pre-determined locations, the marine vessel is located at the pre-determined location.

[0045] Sometimes the marine vessel may not be located exactly at the platform, supply base or mooring buoy but at a distance near these pre-determined locations. In these scenarios, a threshold distance can be pre-determined for each of these locations. For example, a threshold distance of 0.4 nautical miles (NMs) can be pre-determined for supply bases. If the marine vessel is in a radial distance less than 0.4 NMs from a supply base, it can be mapped as “at supply base”. If the marine vessel is in a radial distance in a range of 0.4 NMs to 3.0 NMs around the supply base, the marine vessel can be mapped as “near supply base”. Compared to supply bases, mooring buoys and platforms may have a smaller radius for vesselactivities and therefore may have a smaller threshold distance of 0.3 NMs. If the marine vessel is in a radial distance less than 0.3 NMs from mooring buoys or platforms, the marine vessel can be mapped as “near mooring buoy” or “near platform”. Farther than 0.3 NMs from mooring buoys or platforms, the marine vessel can be mapped as at open sea. A marine vessel mapped as “At mooring buoy” or “at platform” can be considered as “at supply base”. It is understandable by those skilled in the art that the threshold distances can be adjusted based on the practical needs.

[0046] Based on the speed and the mapped pre-determined location, the activity of the marine vessel can be identified. The activity can be one of the following activities: anchorage, jetty, shifting, enroute, cargo work / passenger transfer, or standby.

[0047] Examples of activities that can be determined based on respective locations and respective speeds of the marine vessel are shown below in Table 1. The threshold distances for mapping the locations and the speeds at different locations for identifying / classifying the activities are based on triangulation of historical pings data and actual vessel routes from a previous year. It is understandable to those skilled in the art that the threshold distances and the speeds at different locations for identifying / classifying the activities can be adjusted based on practical needs.Table 1

[0048] An example 300 is shown in Figure 3A with exemplary definitions of the above activities. For example, for the activity “Jetty”, the marine vessel performs works at the jetty, e.g., loading of products, transferring passengers from the jetty to the marine vessel, etc. The other activities are self-explanatory in section 302 of Figure 3A.

[0049] Referring to Figure 3B, three embodiments 308, 310, 312 are shown, each depicting a marine vessel travelling at a speed at a location and a corresponding activity determined based on the speed and the location according to the present application.

[0050] In embodiment 308, GPS coordinates of a marine vessel is mapped as at platform (e.g., at an offshore platform) at a speed of 0.1 knots. An activity of cargo work / passenger transfer is accordingly determined based on the mapped location and the speed of the marine vessel.

[0051] Similarly, in embodiments 310 and 312, GPS coordinates of the marine vessel shown therein are mapped as at open sea at a speed of 1.3 knots and at supply base at a speed of 0.1 knots, respectively. Activities of Standby Normal and Jetty are determined based on the mapped locations and the speeds of the marine vessel.

[0052] Once the activity of the marine vessel is determined, in step 204, the computer program code subsequently instructs the at least one processor 102 to generate a fuel consumption estimate based on the activity of the marine vessel.

[0053] In the present application, each activity can be associated with a corresponding fuel consumption value. In some embodiments, the corresponding fuel consumption value can be further calculated based on a pre-determined number of engines in use by the marine vessel during the activity. An example of respective pre-determined number of engines in use at each activity is shown in section 304 of Figure 3A. It is understood to those skilled in the art that the pre-determined number of engines in use may be adjusted based on practical needs.

[0054] In alternative embodiments, the corresponding fuel consumption value can be determined based on a fuel curve established from three or more data points obtained from pre-existed data, each of the data points indicating a pre-existed fuel consumption value at a pre-existed speed. The pre-existed data refers to historical fuel consumption records from past trips, e.g., Vessel Daily Reports (VDRs) of past trips. A VDR is a vessel log manually filled by vessel crew to report daily activities, fuel consumption, machinery status, vessel crew, personson board (POB), tank details, etc. An example 600 of VDR is shown in Figure 6A. The VDRs can be stored on the device 100 or retrieved from the server of vessel management system in communication with the device 100.

[0055] An embodiment of a fuel curve 605 of a marine vessel is depicted in Figure 6B. The fuel curve 605 is established from at least three data points 602, 604 and 606 from VDRs. Data point 602 represents a fuel consumption of approx. 216.50 Litres per hour when the marine vessel is at 0 knot (i.e. , standby). That is, when the marine vessel is not moving, it incurs a fuel consumption value of approx. 216.50 Litres per hour. It is noted that the marine vessel still costs 25% of the full fuel consumption (fuel consumption when the marine vessel is at its full speed) even when it is not moving. In the present application, data point 602 serves as Constant A for the fuel-speed equation defined below. Data point 604 represents a fuel consumption of approx. 736.10 Litres per hour when the marine vessel is at 85% of its full speed (i.e., approx. 21.25 knots). Data point 604 serves as Constant B for the fuel-speed equation defined below. Data point 606 represents a fuel consumption of approx. 866 Litres per hour when the marine vessel is at its full speed (i.e., approx. 25 knots). Data point 606 serves as Constant C for the fuel-speed equation defined below. These data points can be obtained from the marine vessel’s engine maker. Each vessel may have a unique fuel curve based on different engine makers and / or their different fuel consumptions from past trips.

[0056] In view of Figure 6B, the fuel curve can be represented by a fuel-speed equation of: y = a + (b x ecx), wherein x denotes a speed of the marine vessel, wherein y denotes a fuel consumption of the marine vessel at the speed, and wherein a refers to a pre-existed fuel consumption value at a speed of 0 knot, and b and c refer to respective constants. In the present embodiment, a, b and c respectively refer to Constants A, B and C as defined above.

[0057] In the above alternative embodiments, the corresponding fuel consumption value of the activity can be obtained by applying the above equation of the fuel curve, in which the corresponding fuel consumption value of the activity is y and the speed of the activity is x. Exemplary corresponding fuel consumptions associated with respective activities, such as anchorage, cargo works / passenger transfer, inter-rig, jetty, shifting, stand by-close, stand bynormal, mooring buoy, and anchor handling, are depicted in section 608 of Figure 6B. Corresponding machinery adjustments in view of the fuel consumptions associated with the respective activities as calculated by the present application are exemplified in section 306 of Figure 3A.

[0058] In some embodiments, the fuel consumption estimate is generated based on the corresponding fuel consumption value and a duration of the activity. The duration of the activity can be determined based on scheduled itinerary of the marine vessel, and / or VDR, and / or optimised by the VTS pings. For example, the duration of the activity can be determined by identifying at least two VTS pings as beginning and ending of the activity so as to determine the duration required from the beginning to the ending.

[0059] Another embodiment 250 of the method 200 of estimating fuel consumption of a marine vessel is depicted in Figure 2B. The embodiment 250 comprises a step 252 that corresponds to step 202 and a step 254 that corresponds to step 204.

[0060] Figures 4A to 4C show an embodiment where a fuel consumption estimate is generated based on a corresponding fuel consumption value of the activity and a duration of the activity.

[0061] As described above, in Figure 4A, a VTS ping 402 is obtained for a marine vessel named ALKAHFI CARE at a time point. The VTS ping 402 comprises the marine vessel’s GPS coordinates formed by latitude of 5.1388167 and longitude of 104.7031167. In the embodiment, the GPS coordinates of the marine vessel are mapped to a pre-determined location “near platform” and the speed of the marine vessel is 0 - 0.2 knots. Based on the GPS coordinates and the speed of the marine vessel, the activity of the marine vessel is determined as cargo works / passenger transfer. As VTS pings are obtained at a pre-set frequency e.g., every 10 minutes, by identifying two VTS pings as beginning and ending of the activity, a duration of the activity can be determined based on time stamps of the two VTS pings by the device 100. In this embodiment, the duration of the activity of cargo works / passenger transfer near platform is determined to be 2 hours. In another example, the duration can be determined based on VDR that is submitted by the vessel master on the next day of the activity.

[0062] Figure 4B shows an example of a corresponding fuel consumption value associated with the activity of cargo works / passenger transfer. For this activity, the marine vessel requires 3 main engines each incurring 110 litres fuel consumption and 2 auxiliary engines each incurring 14 litres fuel consumption to provide the necessary propulsion. Therefore, a fuel consumption estimate for the marine vessel carrying out the activity of cargo works / passenger transfer near platform is 358 litres per hour. For 2 hours of the activity, the fuel consumption estimate is 716 litres, as shown in Figure 4C.

[0063] The fuel consumption estimate as described above is a fuel consumption estimate for one activity that the marine vessel carries out at one location during the trip. A fuel consumption estimate for the whole trip will be a sum of all fuel consumption estimates for all the activities that the marine vessel carries out at all the locations during the trip.

[0064] Prior to the trip, the duration of each activity at each location may have been scheduled in the scheduled itinerary. An embodiment of scheduled itinerary of a marine vessel is depicted in Figure 7A. A portion of satellite map illustrating the scheduled itinerary is shown in Figure 7B. The scheduled itinerary includes a plurality of pre-determined locations that the marine vessel plans to travel by, and the marine vessel’s target arrival time and / or target departure time for each of the plurality of pre-determined locations. For example, as shown in Figure 7A, the marine vessel is scheduled to leave Kemaman Supply Base (KSB) on 21 February 2023 at 18:00, to arrive at Dulang (DLB) on 22 February 2023 at 08:03 and to leave DLB on 22 February 2023 at 14:58, to arrive at FSO (Floating storage and offload units - type of vessel) Puteri Dulang (FPD) on 22 February 2023 at 16:08 and to leave FPD on 23 February 2023 at 14:02, to arrive at Resak (RSK) on 23 February 2023 at 16:08 and to leave RSK on 23 February 2023 at 20:12, and to return to KSB on 24 February 2023 at 00:34.

[0065] As described above, the scheduled itinerary may include scheduled activities for the plurality of pre-determined locations. The scheduled activities can be one or more of the activities as described above with reference to Figure 2 and exemplified in Table 1 , e.g., anchorage, jetty, shifting, enroute, cargo work / passenger transfer, or standby. In the scheduled itinerary, the duration of each activity can be determined based on the target arrival time and the target departure time for each of the plurality of pre-determined locations. These data is available prior to the trip and can be utilised to generate a fuel consumption forecast either prior to or during the trip, which may serve as a reference to compare with the fuel consumption estimate as described with respect to Figure 2 and the declared fuel consumption for further improve the accuracy of the fuel consumption estimation.

[0066] The fuel consumption forecast can be a part of the method 200 and performed prior to step 202 and / or after step 204, based on practical needs. In alternative embodiments, the fuel consumption forecast can be performed as a process separate from the method 200.

[0067] Figure 5A depicts such an embodiment 500 in which a fuel consumption forecast is a part of the method 200 performed in step 3 prior to steps 5 and 6 (corresponding to steps 202 and 204 of Figure 2). In this embodiment, the method 200 further comprises a step 4 prior to steps 5 and 6. In step 4, the device 100 receives GPS coordinates of the marinevessel via VTS pings as described above. Steps 5 and 6 correspond to steps 202 and 204 as described with respect to Figure 2.

[0068] In this embodiment, the method 200 further comprises the following sub-steps in step 3: obtaining GPS coordinates of the pre-determined locations that the marine vessel plans to travel by; obtaining scheduled activities of the marine vessel at the pre-determined locations, each of the scheduled activities being associated with a corresponding pre-determined fuel consumption value from pre-existed data; estimating duration of each of the scheduled activities; and generating a fuel consumption forecast based on the duration of each of the scheduled activities and the corresponding pre-determined fuel consumption value.

[0069] The GPS coordinates of the pre-determined locations can be obtained from the scheduled itinerary. Alternatively, GPS coordinates of the pre-determined locations can be retrieved from a database either stored on the device 100 or on a server of the VTS in communication with the marine vessel.

[0070] The scheduled activities of the marine vessel at the pre-determined locations can be obtained from the scheduled itinerary. Each of the scheduled activities can be associated with a corresponding pre-determined fuel consumption value from pre-existed data as described with respect to Figure 6B.

[0071] In some embodiments, the corresponding pre-determined fuel consumption value can be determined based on a fuel curve established from three or more data points obtained from the pre-existed data, each of the data points indicating a pre-existed fuel consumption value at a pre-existed speed. In the embodiment of Figure 5A, the fuel curve can be developed in step 2 based on the pre-existed data obtained from VDRs in step 1 .

[0072] Referring to Figure 6B, the fuel curve is represented by the equation of: y = a + (b x ecx), wherein x denotes a speed of the marine vessel, wherein y denotes a fuel consumption of the marine vessel at the pre-existed speed, and wherein a refers to a pre-existed fuel consumption value at a speed of 0 knot, and b and c refer to respective constants. The corresponding pre-determined fuel consumption value of each of the scheduled activities can be obtained by applying the equation, in which the corresponding pre-determined fuel consumption value is y, and the speed of the marine vessel at each of the scheduled activities is x.

[0073] The duration of each of the scheduled activities can be estimated based on the target arrival time and the target departure time for each of the plurality of pre-determined locations.

[0074] Accordingly, a fuel consumption forecast can be obtained based on the duration of each of the scheduled activities and the corresponding pre-determined fuel consumption value

[0075] Due to various reasons, the scheduled itinerary may not be implemented precisely during the trip and the duration of each of the scheduled activities may be different from the actual duration of the activities that the marine vessel carries out during the trip. For example, due to a hazardous weather event, an activity of anchorage at supply base may take longer time than scheduled. Therefore, the fuel consumption forecast may be different from the fuel consumption estimate generated for the trip.

[0076] To further improve the accuracy of the fuel consumption estimation, in some embodiments the method 200 can further comprise the following steps: generating the fuel consumption estimate for the pre-determined locations that the marine vessel travels by; comparing the fuel consumption forecast and / or the fuel consumption estimate against a declared fuel consumption; and generating a visualisation output comparing the fuel consumption forecast and / or the fuel consumption estimate against the declared fuel consumption.

[0077] As described above, the fuel consumption estimate for the pre-determined locations is a sum of all fuel consumption estimates for all the activities that the marine vessel carries out at all the pre-determined locations. The fuel consumption estimate will then be compared with the fuel consumption forecast and / or a declared fuel consumption for the trip, for example in step 8 of Figure 5A. The declared fuel consumption can be obtained from VDRs which can be downloaded in step 7 of Figure 5A or any time point based on the practical needs. Visualisation outputs can be generated for the comparison.

[0078] Figure 5B shows another schematic diagram 505 of another embodiment of the method 200 of estimating fuel consumption of a marine vessel. The embodiment 505comprises step 508 in which a fuel consumption estimate is calculated as described in the present application. Prior to step 508, the embodiment 505 can include a step 502 in which a fuel-speed curve is generated as described in the present application, a step 504 where VTS and VDR data is retrieved for comparison in order to determine vessel activity and / or machinery adjustment in step 506 based on e.g. VTS pings as described in the present application. The embodiment 505 may comprise a step 510 in response to step 508, in which a user can select visualisation output of comparison between a fuel consumption estimate and a declared fuel consumption in a period of time.

[0079] Figure 5C depicts an example 520 of exemplary adjustment of vessel activity and machinery usage based on vessel’s location and speed for a non-material marine vessel.

[0080] Figure 5D depicts another example 550 of exemplary adjustment of vessel activity and machinery usage based on vessel’s location and speed for a non-material marine vessel

[0081] Figure 8 depicts an embodiment 800 of a visualisation output of comparison between a fuel consumption estimate and a declared fuel consumption in a period of time. The period of time can be from 2010 to the present, or any period based on the practical needs. The visualisation output can include components 802, 804 and 806. The component 806 enables the visualisation to be refined by adjusting parameters. For example, users can compare fuel consumption estimates and declared fuel consumptions of all marine vessels in Southeast Asia that ran jobs of material supply run from January to October 2022 by selecting time period, e.g. 1 January 2022 to 31 October 2022, region, and job type for all the trips in the selected time period. These data can be retrieved from VDRs.

[0082] The component 802 illustrates chart graphs showing the above selected comparison with line 808 showing the declared fuel consumptions and line 810 showing the fuel consumption estimates. The component 804 further provides a summary of fuel consumption differences by total amount and percentage.

[0083] It is clear from the visualisation output that the actual fuel consumptions estimated by the fuel consumption estimates are much less than the declared fuel consumptions. If fuel consumption estimates are used instead of declared fuel consumptions for fuel purchasing and vessel route planning of the marine vessels, significant cost savings can be made. In addition, by virtue of the fuel consumption estimates described in the present application, inventory planning can be improved for bunkering / refuelling locations. Examples of optimised vessel route planning, activity scheduling, fuel purchasing, fuel consumption planning, vessel route / schedule adherence, etc based on the fuel consumption estimation as described herein are depicted in visualisation outputs depicted in Figures 11-21.

[0084] The visualisation output in Figure 8 can further includes activities comparison, fuel consumption table and fuel benchmarks. The visualisation output in Figure 8 contrasts the expected (from fuel analytics) vs the declared fuel consumption (from VDR). From the visualisation output 800, significant difference is shown between manual input (VDR) of fuel consumption and system calculated fuel consumption estimates based on activity types and locations provided by VTS pings as described in the present application. Average daily difference of fuel consumption can be calculated and shown in the visualisation output with an option to filter based on the date, vessel name, region, job type and manager An example of the activities comparison is shown in Figure 9.

[0085] Figure 9 depicts an embodiment 900 of a visualisation output of activities comparison in a fuel consumption estimate, a fuel consumption forecast, and a declared fuel consumption for a trip. The visualisation output can include components 902 and 904. The component 904 enables the visualisation to be refined by adjusting parameters. For example, users can select a specific date and a vessel name for the activities to be visualised. In component 902, users can view durations of declared activities for the selected specific day with comparison to durations obtained from VTS pings and durations obtained from the scheduled itinerary. The durations can be colour coded, with each colour (not shown in Figure 9) representing an activity such as anchorage, cargo works, etc.

[0086] The activities comparison in Figure 9 enables detection of activity reporting inaccuracies and improves compliance of scheduled itineraries.

[0087] Figure 10 shows a block diagram of a computer system 1000 suitable for use as a device for estimating fuel consumption of a marine vessel in accordance with various embodiments as described herein. For example, the computer system 1000 can be implemented as the device 100 that performs the method 200 as described herein.

[0088] The following description of the computer system / computing device 1000 is provided by way of example only and is not intended to be limiting.

[0089] As shown in Figure 10, the example computing device 1000 includes a processor 1004 for executing software routines. Although a single processor is shown for the sake of clarity, the computing device 1000 may also include a multi-processor system. The processor 1004 is connected to a communication infrastructure 1006 for communication with other components of the computing device 1000. The communication infrastructure 1006 may include, for example, a communications bus, cross-bar, or network.

[0090] The computing device 1000 further includes a main memory 1008, such as a random access memory (RAM), and a secondary memory 1010. The secondary memory 1010 may include, for example, a hard disk drive 1012 and / or a removable storage drive 1014, which may include a magnetic tape drive, an optical disk drive, or the like. The removable storage drive 1014 reads from and / or writes to a removable storage unit 1018 in a well-known manner. The removable storage unit 1018 may include a magnetic tape, optical disk, or the like, which is read by and written to by removable storage drive 1014. As will be appreciated by persons skilled in the relevant art(s), the removable storage unit 1018 includes a computer readable storage medium having stored therein computer executable program code instructions and / or data.

[0091] In an alternative implementation, the secondary memory 1010 may additionally or alternatively include other similar means for allowing computer programs or other instructions to be loaded into the computing device 1000. Such means can include, for example, a removable storage unit 1022 and an interface 1020. Examples of a removable storage unit 1022 and interface 1020 include a removable memory chip (such as an EPROM or PROM) and associated socket, and other removable storage units 1022 and interfaces 1020 which allow software and data to be transferred from the removable storage unit 1022 to the computer system 1000.

[0092] The computing device 1000 also includes at least one communication interface 1024. The communication interface 1024 allows software and data to be transferred between computing device 1000 and external devices via a communication path 1026. In various embodiments, the communication interface 1024 permits data to be transferred between the computing device 1000 and a data communication network, such as a public data or private data communication network. The communication interface 1024 may be used to exchange data between different computing devices 1000 which such computing devices 1000 form part an interconnected computer network. Examples of a communication interface 1024 can include a modem, a network interface (such as an Ethernet card), a communication port, an antenna with associated circuitry and the like. The communication interface 1024 may be wired or may be wireless. Software and data transferred via the communication interface 1024 are in the form of signals which can be electronic, electromagnetic, optical or other signals capable of being received by communication interface 1024. These signals are provided to the communication interface via the communication path 1026.

[0093] Optionally, the computing device 1000 further includes a display interface 1002 which performs operations for rendering images to an associated display 1030 and an audio interface 1032 for performing operations for playing audio content via associated speaker(s) 1034.

[0094] As used herein, the term "computer program product" may refer, in part, to removable storage unit 1018, removable storage unit 1022, a hard disk installed in hard disk drive 1012, or a carrier wave carrying software over communication path 1026 (wireless link or cable) to communication interface 1024. Computer readable storage media refers to any non-transitory tangible storage medium that provides recorded instructions and / or data to the computing device 1000 for execution and / or processing. Examples of such storage media include floppy disks, magnetic tape, CD-ROM, DVD, Blu-rayTM Disc, a hard disk drive, a ROM or integrated circuit, USB memory, a magnetooptical disk, or a computer readable card such as a PCMCIA card and the like, whether or not such devices are internal or external of the computing device 1000. Examples of transitory or non-tangible computer readable transmission media that may also participate in the provision of software, application programs, instructions and / or data to the computing device 1000 include radio or infra-red transmission channels as well as a network connection to another computer or networked device, and the Internet or Intranets including e-mail transmissions and information recorded on Websites and the like.

[0095] The computer programs (also called computer program code) are stored in main memory 1008 and / or secondary memory 1010. Computer programs can also be received via the communication interface 1024. Such computer programs, when executed, enable the computing device 1000 to perform one or more features of embodiments discussed herein. In various embodiments, the computer programs, when executed, enable the processor 1004 to perform features of the above-described embodiments. Accordingly, such computer programs represent controllers of the computer system 1000.

[0096] Software may be stored in a computer program product and loaded into the computing device 1000 using the removable storage drive 1014, the hard disk drive 1012, or the interface 1020. Alternatively, the computer program product may be downloaded to the computer system 1000 over the communications path 1026. The software, when executed by the processor 1004, causes the computing device 1000 to perform functions of embodiments described herein.

[0097] It is to be understood that the embodiment of Figure 10 is presented merely by way of example. Therefore, in some embodiments one or more features of the computing device 1000 may be omitted. Also, in some embodiments, one or more features of the computing device 1000 may be combined together. Additionally, in some embodiments, one or more features of the computing device 1000 may be split into one or more component parts.

[0098] As described above, the present application provides methods, devices and computer-readable media that estimate fuel consumptions based on activities instead of past fuel consumptions, which adventurously produce more accurate fuel consumption estimations compared to the declared fuel consumptions. In addition, the more accurate fuel consumption estimation in turn can provide significant cost savings, improved inventory planning for bunkering / refuelling locations and improved compliance of the marine vessels.

[0099] It will be appreciated by a person skilled in the art that numerous variations and / or modifications may be made to the present invention as shown in the specific embodiments without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention as broadly described. The present embodiments are, therefore, to be considered in all respects to be illustrative and not restrictive.

Claims

Claims1. A method of estimating fuel consumption of a marine vessel, the method comprising: determining an activity of a marine vessel in response to GPS coordinates of the marine vessel and a speed of the marine vessel; and generating a fuel consumption estimate based on the activity of the marine vessel.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the determining an activity of a marine vessel comprises: mapping the GPS coordinates of the marine vessel to a pre-determined location; and identifying the activity of the marine vessel based on the speed and the mapped predetermined location.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein the pre-determined location comprises one of the following pre-determined locations: platform, supply base, mooring buoy, and open sea.

4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the activity comprises one of the following activities: anchorage, jetty, shifting, enroute, cargo work / passenger transfer, and standby.

5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the activity is associated with a corresponding fuel consumption value.

6. The method according to claim 5, wherein the corresponding fuel consumption value is further calculated based on a pre-determined number of engines in use by the marine vessel during the activity.

7. The method according to claim 5 or 6, wherein the fuel consumption estimate is based on the corresponding fuel consumption value and a duration of the activity.

8. The method according to any of the preceding claims, wherein when the marine vessel plans to travel by a plurality of pre-determined locations, the method further comprising: obtaining GPS coordinates of the pre-determined locations that the marine vessel plans to travel by;obtaining scheduled activities of the marine vessel at the pre-determined locations, each of the scheduled activities being associated with a corresponding pre-determined fuel consumption value from pre-existed data; estimating duration of each of the scheduled activities; and generating a fuel consumption forecast based on the duration of each of the scheduled activities and the corresponding pre-determined fuel consumption value.

9. The method according to claim 8, wherein the corresponding pre-determined fuel consumption value of each of the scheduled activities is determined based on a fuel curve established from three or more data points obtained from the pre-existed data, each of the data points indicating a pre-existed fuel consumption value at a pre-existed speed.

10. The method according to claim 9, wherein the fuel curve is represented as y = a + (b * ecx) wherein x denotes a pre-determined speed of the marine vessel, wherein y denotes a determined fuel consumption of the marine vessel at the determined speed, and wherein a refers to a pre-existed fuel consumption value at a speed of zero, b and c refer to respective constants.

11. The method according to any one of claims 8 to 10, further comprising: generating the fuel consumption estimate for the pre-determined locations that the marine vessel travels by; comparing the fuel consumption forecast and / or the fuel consumption estimate against a declared fuel consumption; and generating a visualisation output comparing the fuel consumption forecast and / or the fuel consumption estimate against the declared fuel consumption.

12. A device for estimating fuel consumption of a marine vessel, the device comprising: at least one processor; and a memory including computer program code for execution by the at least one processor, the computer program code instructing the at least one processor to: determine an activity of a marine vessel in response to GPS coordinates of the marine vessel and a speed of the marine vessel; and generate a fuel consumption estimate based on the activity of the marine vessel.

13. The device according to claim 12, wherein when determining an activity of a marine vessel, the computer program code instructing the at least one processor to: map the GPS coordinates of the marine vessel to a pre-determined location; andidentify the activity of the marine vessel based on the speed and the mapped predetermined location.

14. The device according to claim 13, wherein the pre-determined location comprises one of the following pre-determined locations: platform, supply base, mooring buoy, and open sea.

15. The device according to any one of claims 12 to 14, wherein the activity comprises one of the following activities: anchorage, jetty, shifting, enroute, cargo work / passenger transfer, and standby.

16. The device according to any one of claims 12 to 15, wherein the activity is associated with a corresponding fuel consumption value.

17. The device according to claim 16, wherein the corresponding fuel consumption value is further calculated based on a pre-determined number of engines in use by the marine vessel during the activity.

18. The device according to claim 16 or 17, wherein the fuel consumption estimate is based on the corresponding fuel consumption value and a duration of the activity.

19. The device according to any of the preceding claims 12 to 18, wherein when the marine vessel plans to travel by a plurality of pre-determined locations, the computer program code instructing the at least one processor to: obtain GPS coordinates of the pre-determined locations that the marine vessel plans to travel by; obtain scheduled activities of the marine vessel at the pre-determined locations, each of the scheduled activities being associated with a corresponding pre-determined fuel consumption value from pre-existed data; estimate duration of each of the scheduled activities; and generate a fuel consumption forecast based on the duration of each of the scheduled activities and the corresponding pre-determined fuel consumption value.

20. The device according to claim 19, wherein the corresponding pre-determined fuel consumption value of each of the scheduled activities is determined based on a fuel curve established from three or more data points obtained from the pre-existed data, each of the data points indicating a pre-existed fuel consumption value at a pre-existed speed.

21. The device according to claim 20, wherein the fuel curve is represented as y = a + (b * ecx) wherein x denotes a pre-determined speed of the marine vessel, wherein y denotes a determined fuel consumption of the marine vessel at the determined speed, and wherein a refers to a pre-existed fuel consumption value at a speed of zero, b and c refer to respective constants.

22. The device according to any one of claims 19 to 21, wherein the computer program code further instructs the at least one processor to: generate the fuel consumption estimate for the pre-determined locations that the marine vessel travels by; compare the fuel consumption forecast and / or the fuel consumption estimate against a declared fuel consumption; and generate a visualisation output comparing the fuel consumption forecast and / or the fuel consumption estimate against the declared fuel consumption.

23. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium having instructions encoded thereon that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform one or more steps in a method of estimating fuel consumption of a marine vessel according to any one of claims 1- 11.

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