A new ISO standard development project in Japan has been launched to establish methods for evaluating ship fuel consumption and propulsion performance in actual sea conditions, following agreement at a recent international meeting in Baltimore.
The initiative was approved by the Marine Environment Protection Subcommittee of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO/TC 8/SC 2). The new standards aim to support the design and operation of ships with lower greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, using consistent, data-driven evaluation methods.
The work builds on research from the Japan-led OCTARVIA project, a maritime cluster initiative involving 27 organisations. A new ISO working group titled ‘Evaluation of fuel consumption and propulsion performance in actual seas’ has been formed to carry the project forward.
Two standards will be developed under the ISO 25817 series: ISO 25817-1, Method for evaluating fuel consumption and propulsion performance in actual seas; and ISO 25817-2, Index for life cycle fuel consumption.
The goal is to create fair and transparent evaluation methods based on real-world monitoring and design data, contributing to more efficient ship operations and reduced environmental impact.
