OSV owner Rawabi Vallianz Offshore Services is implementing an electronic fuel monitoring system fleetwide to establish best practices, improve vessel fuel consumption and reduce CO2 emissions
Fuel savings and emissions reductions are primary concerns for oil companies, charterers and OSV owners that are looking to cut costs and slash CO2 emissions from offshore oil and gas operations. One strategy for OSV owners has been to increase transparency and insight through the use of digitalisation, helping crew track and reduce fuel usage and emissions.
One OSV owner leaning into digitalisation is Rawabi Vallianz Offshore Services (RVOS). Over the next 18 months, it plans to outfit its OSV fleet with FuelTrax Electronic Fuel Management Systems (EFMS) to ensure accurate fuel usage transparency and emissions tracking.
The move by RVOS, a joint venture between Saudi Arabia’s Rawabi Holding and Singapore’s Vallianz Holdings, follows an initial trial of the EFMS system that was completed in Q4 2021.
Installations have been completed on eight vessels in Indonesia, Singapore, Dubai, and Saudi Arabia, with another 14 underway. Systems are being fitted on platform supply vessels and anchor-handling tug supply vessels that will primarily be operating in the Arabian Gulf region.
RVOS plans to refit its fleet of more than 50 OSVs with FuelTrax EFMSs.
“These practices have been proven to reduce consumption by 5% to 20%”
“By providing immediate transparency on consumption and engine configuration with high-accuracy, inefficient practices — such as running too many engines in standby mode, or at the dock — are immediately identified, allowing for corrective action,” FuelTrax vice president of operations John Donovan tells OSJ.
“Once best practices are established, alerts can be set for deviation from protocol. Additionally, FuelTrax has a proprietary optimisation protocol that provides recommendations on throttle settings during transit.”
Adds Mr Donovan: “Combined, these practices have been proven to reduce consumption by 5% to 20%, depending on the region and vessel activities.”
FuelTrax EFMS is a fuel management solution that measures direct fuel consumption and transfers on board, enabling vessel operators to reduce operational and fuel costs. It takes direct measurements using Coriolis smart meters to measure mass-flow rather than volume. The system consistently measures fuel quality and transmits that data to the FuelTrax operations centre for real-time monitoring.
“There is no doubt that digitalisation in the /offshore arena is here to stay,” says Rawabi Holding vice president, oilfield services division, Ahmed Al-Qadeeb.
“The impressive quality and stability of the FuelTrax EFMS, and first-rate response from their support team in Houston, made it clear that this was the solution that would meet the high standards of sustained performance set for the RVOS fleet,” says Mr Al-Qadeeb.
“RVOS is leading the way with their very proactive approach in recognising and acting on the increasing demand for compliance, efficiency, and accuracy in vessel fuel transparency,” adds Mr Donovan. “They are first movers in the Arabian Gulf region, setting a standard for fleetwide digitalisation that others will soon follow.”
