THE INTERNATIONAL Maritime Organization has launched a guide and assessment tool to help shipowners and operators navigate energy efficient technologies available to them.

A Practical Guide to the Selection of Energy Efficiency Technologies for Ships was published by the Global Industry Alliance to Support Low Carbon Shipping (Low Carbon GIA), part of the GreenVoyage2050 project.

GreenVoyage2050 is a partnership between the IMO and the Norwegian government, aimed at supporting the shipping industry’s transition to a low-carbon future.

The intent of the guide is to inform shipowners considering retrofits, with information on operational practices to factor in during the selection of technology.

David Connolly, chair of the Low Carbon GIA Energy Efficient Technologies and Operational Best Practices workstream, said transparency of performance is one of the main barriers to the uptake of energy efficient technologies for ships.

“We hope that the publication of this guide and its accompanying tool will support shipowners and operators, particularly those with limited in-house technical departments, to assess the energy saving potential of energy efficiency technologies and enable a more informed comparison between different technologies,” he said.

According to the IMO, the guide provides methodology for shortlisting technologies based on a set of eight evaluation criteria.

It covers similarity, plausibility, accuracy, overall and specific volume orders, repeat orders, consistency and compatibility.

The guide is accompanied by an excel-based assessment tool designed to be user friendly and not require specialist technical knowledge.

The tool uses a “traffic light” scoring system to help narrow down and rank technology according to the level of confidence shipowners have in their ability to deliver on the vendor’s performance claims.

Though the guide is aimed primarily at shipowners and operators, the IMO said equipment and technology suppliers may also use the methodology and assessment tool to increase confidence in their performance claims.