BunkerMetric is rolling out new functionality to assist users of BunkerPlanner in their transition towards the forthcoming IMO 2020 regulatory landscape.

BunkerPlanner is an IT tool supporting bunker buyers in choosing the right Port, Volume and Grade for bunker purchases, to improve TCE earnings / lower total bunker costs while respecting all operational, commercial and regulatory constraints.

Fernando Alvarez

Firstly, BunkerPlanner now has SECA speed optimization logic that determines the optimal speed to sail inside and outside SECAs in order to minimize fuel expenditure while maintaining the vessel's schedule. This is in addition to SECA routing optimization, which determines the optimal path to follow in view of the overall sailing distance, SECA portions, and fuel price differentials. Users can specify whether a scrubber has been installed on a given vessel. In this case, BunkerPlanner's optimization logic will emphasize sailing along the shortest distances and at equal speeds inside and outside of ECAs. BunkerPlanner will automatically leverage the scrubber to the greatest extent possible and only use distillate fuels where required.

“Bunker procurement practices need to advance all the time to adapt to market and regulatory changes. This is why we believe bunker buyers will benefit from additional data and algorithmic decision support. In a volatile bunker market, bunker buyers can use BunkerPlanner to quickly find the cheapest and safest bunkering options for their fleet, depending on whether the vessel has a scrubber or not. This reduces cost and creates transparency.” Says Fernando Alvarez, BunkerMetric co-founder.

Secondly, BunkerPlanner now provides an option to transition a subset of vessels within the fleet to operate under the new legislative framework ahead of January 1st, 2020. With this, vessels without a scrubber will shift towards procurement and utilization of VLSFO in global waters at the earliest opportunity. Users will be able to specify a new tank configuration to enable carriage of VLSFO and gradually phase out remaining HSFO inventories. We believe that this feature will be of interest to vessel owners that are seeking a transition towards the new bunker procurement paradigm starting in Q4 2019.

Christian Plum

Co-Founder of BunkerMetric, Christian Plum says: “There is and will be so much turmoil and bunker buyers need a simple interface to help calculate and select from amongst a complex array of procurement options. Bunker buyers controlling a diverse fleet, requiring different types of fuel, sailing on a varied number of trades, combined with a very dynamic pricing market, is so complex that you will make better decision supported by a good system to help you navigate in this challenging environment.”

Thirdly, BunkerPlanner now offers a new and convenient way to specify the consumption quantities and fuel types for each fuel consumer in the vessel. The user is only required to make a few selections regarding the fuel capabilities of their main engines, auxiliaries, and boilers. BunkerPlanner then uses internal logic to automatically select the optimal fuel type to be used by each engine type in each ECA zone. For our customers in the tanker segment, we have added separate consideration for the consumption of boilers under different operating modes and ECA zones.

The BunkerPlanner team continues to make improvements on the speed and usability of our product on an ongoing basis, with many new and powerful features to be announced in the coming weeks and months.