When Navigation Maritime Bulgare were looking to cut their fuel costs, the company turned to Wärtsilä and the EnergoProFin energy-saving propeller cap. As well as helping to reduce fuel costs, the EnergoProFin also helped to reduce emissions and improve efficiency. This led to Navigation Maritime Bulgare being awarded an improved greenhouse gas rating from the world’s biggest third-party maritime due diligence organisation, making their vessels a more attractive prospect to charterers.
Bulgarian shipping company Navigation Maritime Bulgare, established in 1892, currently has 34 bulkers operating globally. The company’s desire to reduce fuel costs led to discussions with Wärtsilä about solutions that could help them achieve their goal. As a result, in 2018, Wärtsilä installed an EnergoProFin on the Balgarka, a 41,000-tonne vessel, when it was drydocked in Varna, Bulgaria’s primary Black Sea port.
The Wärtsilä EnergoProFin for fixed-pitch propellers is an energy-saving propeller cap with fins that rotate together with the propeller, helping to reduce energy losses behind the propeller and increasing overall propulsion efficiency. Installing the device can lead to average fuel savings as high as two percent; it can also help owners to comply with new IMO emissions-related regulations and improve a vessel’s Energy Efficiency Existing Ship Index (EEXI) and Carbon Intensity Indicator (CII).
“Installing the device can lead to average fuel savings as high as two percent; it can also help owners to comply with new IMO emissions-related regulations and improve a vessel’s Energy Efficiency Existing Ship Index (EEXI) and Carbon Intensity Indicator (CII).
The Wärtsilä EnergoProFin can be quickly and easily installed during drydock, afloat by negative trim, or even underwater by divers. “Because of the fuel savings it enables, the Wärtsilä EnergoProFin has a short payback time,
typically about one-and-a-half years depending on the price of fuel,” explains Dimitar Stoyanov, Sales Manager, Wärtsilä Bulgaria
Wärtsilä EnergoProFin energy-saving propeller cap.
In 2019, after Navigation Maritime Bulgare had been operating the EnergoProFin-equipped Bulgarka for enough time to have gathered meaningful fuel-consumption data, they contacted Wärtsilä again. They were impressed with the results, and after having several discussions with Wärtsilä they asked for the device to be installed on six more of their vessels, all laker-type bulk carriers. A month later, in January 2020, two more were ordered, with a further two following in March. “The additional orders speak volumes about Navigation Maritime Bulgare’s confidence in the EnergoProFin’s ability to help them reach their fuel-saving and efficiency targets,” highlights Stoyanov.
But fuel savings weren’t the only benefit of installing the EnergoProFin. Navigation Maritime Bulgare also approached RightShip, the world’s biggest third-party maritime due diligence organisation, for a new sustainability evaluation. The emissions reductions and efficiency improvements enabled by the Wärtsilä EnergoProFin helped the vessels improve their GHG rating. “Wärtsilä issued Navigation Maritime Bulgare with certificates specifying expected fuel savings, which the company was then able to submit to RightShip. The improved rating is important for securing charterers, who today are placing increasing weight on environmental performance in addition to fuel efficiency when awarding contracts. This will only become more important as initiatives like the Sea Cargo Charter and EEXI come into force,” explains Stoyanov.
“We’re very happy with Wärtsilä’s solution – not only has the cooperation been excellent, but there have also been average fuel savings of 1.5–2% across the 11 vessels fitted with the EnergoProFin, and our rating with RightShip has improved. The devices will also help as we begin our EEXI calculations.
- Ivan Karchev, Technical Manager, Navigation Maritime Bulgare
