Inland waterway cargo vessel energy efficiency in operation

Inland waterways vessels (IWV) have no mandatory regulations regarding their energy efficiency, as sea-going ships have. So far, there are just two proposed design energy efficiency evaluation methods, both based on IMO EEDI approach and data on EU inland navigation. Operational indicators and real-time navigation measurements from available literature do not exist. Therefore, this paper aims to introduce the energy efficiency in operation (EEO), assessed for the typical Danube cargo vessel. Firstly, an operational profile is acquired by tracking the vessel’s voyages, and by identifying actual constraints of each sector the vessel has sailed during the designated time. Secondly, EEO is incorporated within two available methods and calculated based on acquired operational data considering different navigational conditions. The paper shows how the energy efficiency vastly depends on variables such as water depth, current speed, draught, deadweight, river constraints. Analysis is performed for the most employed month of the vessel navigation, and annually. Depending on water level scenarios and during the selected month of sailing, the total amount of CO2 emitted is estimated to be between 22.7 t and 29.9 t, while the necessary average speed reduction (i.e., slow steaming) per sectoral voyage for the requirement compliance is calculated to be in between 4.8%-26%. Slow steaming is assessed to extend the time of voyage for 6.1-10.7 hours on monthly basis and 49-87 hours annually.