United Heavy Lift deploys Syroco weather routing platform on F900 Eco-Lifter ships

Germany’s heavy lift shipping company United Heavy Lift (UHL) has started deploying a weather routing platform developed by French climate tech startup Syroco on its F900 Eco-Lifter class ships, aiming for reduced fuel consumption and special cargo safety.

As disclosed, the deployment of Syroco’s weather routing platform has been confirmed on 11 vessels in UHL’s fleet of 19 F900 Eco-Lifter class ships, following a pilot phase on three vessels.

The 150-meter-long heavy lift vessels have a transport capacity of more than 15,000 tons. They are used for transporting various types of cargo including modules, renewable energy components, machinery, mining equipment, and other industrial goods.  

Overall, the carbon footprint of UHL’s F900 Eco-Lifter fleet, which has an average age of three years, is said to be 30% to 50% lower compared to other fleets in the heavy lift sector.

By deploying Syroco’s weather routing platform, which uses digital twins and machine learning, the operator expects to reduce fuel consumption and ensure special cargo safety.

As explained, the solution leverages precise weather and sea data to help crews plan their voyage by finding the most optimal and safe route, taking into account operating constraints such as desired arrival time, and the seakeeping parameters of the laden vessel. After departure, Syroco updates the route as often as necessary to account for the evolution of weather conditions, and any change in schedule.

Lars zum Felde from UHL noted that during the pilot phase, the operator was able to “significantly improve decision making, increase accuracy of performance predictions, and measure a reduction in fuel consumption”, generating “strong adoption” among crew members.

Alex Caizergues, President and Co-founder of Syroco, also said the pilot phase had proven the effectiveness of the weather routing platform on UHL’s vessels, adding that the extended adoption “will reduce the energy footprint of operations, while enhancing safety and performance”.