Eidesvik and Aker BP Launch Project to Lower OSV Emissions by 70%

Eidesvik and Aker BP are launching an ambitious joint technology project that aims to reduce emissions from existing supply vessels by at least 70 percent. The companies are seeking to build on their efforts adding batteries to the OSV fleet by launching a broader effort focusing on retrofitting the existing fleet with additional green technologies.

Working with Solstad Offshore and Simon Møkster Shipping, Aker BP and Eidesvik during their first efforts are working to install batteries on three offshore supply vessels operating on long-term contracts with the companies. When the first phase of the project is completed in 2022, a total of 11 of Eidesvik’s 12 vessels will be in operation equipped with hybrid battery technology. The last of the vessels scheduled for conversion is the Viking Prince, built in 2012. The 6,100 dwt vessel is also currently working for Aker BP.

“Newbuildings are often presented as the only solution to making the shipping industry greener and more sustainable. However, at Eidesvik we’re equally focused on the great potential for significantly reducing emissions from the existing fleet,” says Eidesvik CEO Jan Fredrik Meling.

In the next phase of their program, to be known as Retrofit, Eidesvik and Aker BP are now extending their green collaboration further by evaluating various additional solutions for converting existing supply vessels to low-emission units. The goal is to achieve emission reductions of 70 percent or more on selected vessels.

Meling highlights that recycling old ships and building new ones requires a lot of energy that could otherwise be saved, not to mention the huge investment needed for newbuildings. As a shipowner, he believes they can achieve increasingly large emissions reductions as well as save capex by prolonging the lifetime of existing vessels with new green technologies.

The Aker BP-owned supply vessels NS Orla and NS Frayja, which are managed by Eidesvik, are potential candidates for the green upgrades, in addition to others owned by Eidesvik. Both vessels were built in 2014 and are each 5,000 dwt.

“We are now working to map available new technologies from a cost-benefit perspective. This is a big task, with several alternatives already on the table. During the next 12 months we hope to have a good basis in place to make decisions on what low-emission solutions we take forward,” says Meling.

Eidesvik began its green transition in 2003 when it was the first offshore vessel owner to introduce the use of LNG. Since then, the company has pioneered with fuel cells and batteries. Eidesvik’s Viking Energy will be equipped with an ammonia fuel cell in 2024 as part of the European ShipFC project.