Tanker company Odfjell has begun the deployment of a new weather routing system from climate tech startup Syroco on two of its vessels, the Bow Olympus and Bow Optima.
The two vessels are part of Odfjell’s Hudong-class chemical tanker series, flying the Norwegian flag. Both built in 2019, the 183 metre vessels are each equipped with 33 stainless steel tanks and operate primarily on trans-Pacific routes.
In early 2025, the Bow Olympus will be fitted with four eSAILs, bound4blue’s suction sails, making her the first tanker vessel in the world to use this wind assistance technology. As an add-on to optimise the sails’ effects, Odfjell will deploy Syroco’s digital weather calculation tool.
“Odfjell is committed to operating a sustainable business, and we are continuously seeking improvements to reduce our fleet’s climate footprints,” said Odfjell VP Technology, Erik Hjortland.
“Through data-driven decisions and investment in new technology, we optimise the way we operate, to documented results. Our long-time efforts have significantly reduced our fleet’s emissions.”
“The deployment of Syroco’s solution on the first vessels with sail technology is part of our continued optimisation. We look forward to seeing the results.”
Leveraging weather and sea data, Syroco creates a digital twin of the vessel, driven by data, machine learning and naval architecture principles, to calculate optimised routing. The proposed route, updated as often as necessary, takes into account operating constraints including arrival time, seakeeping, safety of navigation, and cargo-specific operational parameters.
With specific models for the eSAIL included in the digital twin, the software will account for the specific energy needs and propulsive power created by the wind devices when computing an optimised route. In addition, the application will also measure the specific savings delivered by the sails to help assess the return on investment from the installation.
“At the forefront of the energy transition of maritime, Odfjell is looking for a solution that is fast to deploy and easy to use by crews, but also that delivers accurate simulation through high-fidelity models regardless of the complexity of the vessel,” said Alex Caizergues, CEO and co-founder of Syroco.
“Syroco supports both conventional propulsion systems and wind assistance devices and will help the company understand clearly the benefits of each solution and operational choice.”
