ZeroNorth: The shipping industry cannot take decisions in isolation anymore

The shipping industry cannot take decisions in isolation anymore and must understand the true impact of decision-making, according to ZeroNorth, a Denmark-based digital company that aims to accelerate maritime decarbonisation.

Nowadays, the digital technology solutions marketplace is crowded, with several different platforms providing different recommendations.

In order to navigate changes happening in the industry, the company believes that consolidating the data landscape will be crucial.

By integrating weather routing with the ZeroNorth platform, the Danish firm said it was able to provide operators with a single destination for voyage optimisation, removing the need to consult multiple sources or being limited by just optimising for one strategic priority.

As explained, a single platform enabling flexibility and visibility of how actions align with strategic priorities proved to be beneficial for the industry. The International Maritime Organization (IMO) already estimates that good weather routing can cut fuel consumption by 3%, with the potential for even greater improvements in the near future.

“If it is a strategic priority for a business to cut emissions, it needs transparency on the CO2 impact of speeding up to make a port call. Equally, if a business is focused on maximising profit on a voyage or for a vessel, it needs visibility on the environmental trade-offs of doing so,” Lora Jakobsen, Chief Purpose Activist, ZeroNorth, said in an interview with Offshore Energy.

“And, critically, it isn’t black and white: what we are proving with our technology is that it is possible to operate better for profit and planet at the same time, and that we can do this today.”

ZeroNorth was founded in 2020 as a digital spin-off of Maersk Tankers to make global trade green. As many businesses in the shipping industry were under mounting pressure to become more sustainable and reduce their CO2 emissions, ZeroNorth envisaged a single destination for voyage, vessel and bunker optimisation to propel the industry’s green transition.

Over the last two years, the company has committed to ambitious targets to drive down emissions and has generated a tangible impact. In 2021 alone, it cut emissions from vessels by 218,000 tonnes, equivalent to the emissions from 47,000 cars.

“We’re extremely proud of the impact that our platform was able to generate in 2021. It’s especially exciting to think that this was possible in part by layering our algorithm, expertise and customer data. To reach even more ambitious growth and impact targets, we will continue to work with owners, operators and charterers across the global trade ecosystem,” Jakobsen pointed out.

“For example, acquiring ClearLynx enabled us to bring bunker optimisation, procurement and supply into the fold. Meanwhile, our CII optimisation tool is directly tackling another key and imminent industry challenge. In short, by providing a genuinely holistic platform, we are connecting more of the value chain together and generating an even bigger cumulative impact.”

Navigating shipping’s ‘data ocean’

ZeroNorth said it has developed the platform with the knowledge that the industry can sail smarter and more profitably using the information it already has if it breaks down data silos and turns information into actions.

Optimise software is part of the ZeroNorth platform, providing users with a single destination for voyage, vessel, bunker, emissions and now chartering optimisation. The platform provides insights shipowners need to boost profitability and minimise their environmental impact, according to the company.

Specifically, it brings multiple stakeholders to the table, helping increase transparency and collaboration across the industry. For example, with more visibility on data on vessel performance and marine fuel procurement, owners and charterers are better equipped to make informed decisions on CII compliance, bunkering options, weather routing and more.

“We see that by connecting thousands of interconnected data points, identifying inefficiencies and optimising performance, we are able to speak openly about the value of data, educating our customers on how they can better navigate what we describe as shipping’s ‘data ocean’,” Chief Purpose Activist at ZeroNorth noted.

“3000 vessels already rely on our platform to optimise their operations and we are excited to see the cumulative impact that working with more users will have on our platform and the insights it can generate.“

Jakobsen went on to say that data quality, consistency and standardisation are key for the industry to be able to optimise operations across the value chain. The company’s Vessel Reporting Platform helps address this gap in the industry’s data landscape by ensuring reports that are sent to shore are accurate and complete.

“Standardised and accurate data on vessel performance enables us to create a realistic picture of what a ship is actually facing on the high seas. A more accurate understanding of fuel consumption and emissions leads to stronger recommendations from our platform, assisting customers to take the best decisions when it comes to their vessels and fleets.“

“This is important for the wider supply chain as well because we can enable greater transparency as well as facilitate easier and more accurate data sharing between counterparties.“

Improving ships’ CII performance

The maritime industry is preparing for new environmental regulations, including the upcoming Carbon Intensity Indicator (CII) that aims to support the IMO 2030 target.

To help shipping companies comply with the new regulations, ZeroNorth recently introduced an industry-first CII analytics and optimization service.

Speaking of the new service, the company said it was developed from the need to help ship owners and operators know their vessels’ ratings and take action to improve their fleet’s CII performance.

“Despite CII regulations coming into effect at the end of the year, there is still a lot of uncertainty about how to balance compliance and commerciality. We want to make this as easy as possible for our customers, therefore we have integrated CII analytics and optimisation into our platform, so that they don’t have to prioritise one over the other,” Jakobsen told Offshore Energy.

“This has been well-received by the market and proves that data-driven technologies enable the industry to plan for more sustainable and profitable operations or, at the very least, allow a greater understanding of the trade-offs between each strategic priority.“

Unstandardised data as a key short-term barrier to decarbonisation

Earlier this year, ZeroNorth, together with several other organisations created the Impact Today initiative calling for an industry-wide standard to measure fuel consumption model accuracy.

The initiative seeks to enable shipping’s decarbonisation by focusing on dismantling the barriers to near-term action.

“We believe that the working group creates a platform for truly innovative and collaborative thinking, as we collectively realise that the short-term barriers to decarbonisation need unilateral action to be dismantled,” Jakobsen stressed.

It also published a white paper calling on the industry to create a new data standard aimed at evolving noon reports into holistic vessel reports to support vessel and voyage optimisation.

“This call to action comes from the fact that one of the biggest obstacles to optimising the industry’s data and reducing emissions is that the data we have is often not complete or standardised,” according to Jakobsen.

“It’s no longer enough to simply talk about the problem. We need tangible solutions. Soon after publishing the white paper, we launched our Vessel Reporting service to enable progress towards data standardisation.“

Collaborations are crucial for making decarbonisation progress

Currently, ZeroNorth works closely with the Global Maritime Forum (GMF) and is actively participating in their Short Term Actions Task Force, as well as in their Data Committee sub-group. We are also part of the Getting to Zero Coalition, Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller Center for Zero Carbon Shipping, OCIMF and LeapEnergy.

In the future, the Digital Container Shipping Association (DCSA) is seen as the next place for ZeroNorth to reach out to align actions, collaborate and make decarbonisation progress.

Looking forward, Zero North intends to collaborate more closely with other industry stakeholders to continue to keep up with the pace of digitalisation and decarbonisation.

“Given the urgency of the hour, we all need to come together to collaborate, to share experiences and good practices. In fact, recognising the critical role that container and feeder shipping plays in global trade, we recently signed a deal with X-Press Feeders to propel the carrier’s decarbonisation strategy,” Jakobsen emphasized.

ZeroNorth aims to help cut 500,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions in 2022

In June, ZeroNorth raised over $50 million in investment from PGS Equity, a growth equity firm that joined ZeroNorth’s existing investors A.P. Moller Holding and Cargill.

The investment will help the company further accelerate decarbonisation in shipping.

“The investment will help us expand our reach and impact, enabling organic and acquisition-driven growth, product innovation and the continued expansion of our team. All these factors will enable us to deepen the insights we generate for our customers and make genuine, positive change for customer emissions and profitability in the near-term.”

“We are already on course to help cut CO2 emissions by over half a million metric tonnes in 2022, up from 218,000 tonnes in 2021, and believe the additional investment and data will amplify our growth exponentially,” Jakobsen concluded.