Heerema Marine Contractors has reduced the North Atlantic transit time of its semi-submersible crane vessel Sleipnir by 2.5 days during a voyage optimisation pilot with French ocean intelligence company Amphitrite. The optimised route shortened the voyage by 240 nautical miles and reduced carbon dioxide emissions by up to 18%, while maintaining higher average speeds without increasing fuel consumption. The pilot combined Heerema's offshore operational experience with Amphitrite's vessel-specific voyage optimisation platform.
Using five years of operational data provided by Heerema, the system was trained to predict Sleipnir's speed and power consumption under varying weather, wave and ocean current conditions. The platform combines vessel-specific performance modelling with high-resolution ocean, wave and weather data to optimise routing.
During the trial, Sleipnir was sailing from Rotterdam to New York to install an offshore wind substation. Winter conditions in the North Atlantic, including rapidly changing winds, waves and currents, provided a challenging environment for testing the routing model.
After departure, the system identified a sailing window that allowed the vessel to benefit from favourable tidal currents in the English Channel. Later in the crossing, it recommended a more northerly route around a developing storm, enabling the vessel to make use of favourable tailwinds while remaining close to the shortest practical route.
On the return voyage, the optimisation model directed Sleipnir towards the Gulf Stream rather than the shortest route. Although the vessel travelled a greater distance, favourable currents increased its speed over ground to 14.6 knots, reducing the overall transit time.
The pilot forms part of Heerema's wider use of Amphitrite's Ocean Bulletin to support voyage planning and offshore project preparation across its fleet.
image Heerema Marine Contractors
