Project MariEMS report presented to the IMO
Senior lecturer, Captain Zakirul Bhuiyan presented the findings and discussed the next steps.
The final outcome of project MariEMS (Maritime Energy Management Training Strategic Partnership) was presented during the IMO’s HTW6 (Human Element, Training and Watchkeeping) sub-committee session on 29 April 2019. During the presentation, Captain Zakirul Bhuiyan, the project's principal investigator and senior lecturer at Solent University, highlighted the findings of the energy efficiency study to the International Maritime Organization (IMO) member states.
The 30-month-long MariEMS research project concluded in 2018. Solent University had been leading this Erasmus+ funded project along with eight other partners across Europe, including four EU universities. The project is expected to help to reduce the energy usage on board ships, thereby reducing emissions and pollution. The project is also helping the IMO and the EU in achieving their stated emissions targets through better training for the management of energy on board vessels.
The IMO has introduced regulations such as the Energy Efficiency Design Index (EEDI), Ship Energy Efficiency Management Plan (SSEMP) and Energy Efficiency Operational Index (EEOI), which entered in force on 1 January 2013. The EEDI applies to newly-built ships and requires they comply with new energy efficient technologies to reduce emission footprints. SEEMP is a measure required to be applied on board all ships currently operating to design an achievable plan for monitoring and achieving energy efficiency, and EEOI provides a tool for measuring the ship’s fuel efficiency in operation and monitoring the effect of any variations, eg, more frequent propeller cleaning or improved voyage planning or introduction of technical measures.
The majority of the IMO requirements on ship emissions are contained within MARPOL, with air pollution being the focus of Annex V1. The MARPOL regulations impose strict emissions caps in two emissions control areas which are (partly or completely) inside the EU - The North Sea and the Baltic Sea. These emissions caps are intended to control main air pollutants in ships' exhaust gas, including CO2, sulphur oxides (SOx) and nitrous oxides (NOx), and prohibits deliberate emissions of ozone depleting substances (ODS).
As the regulations and technologies governing energy efficiency on board ships become more complex, it's been recognised by the IMO and the industry that seafarers need to be trained to a much higher level in these fields. The purpose of the MariEMS project is to develop an energy management training specification, and develop and implement an online leaning and assessment system for the new training programme. As the maritime industry is global, creating a standard job and training specification across European countries as well as a full training programme to be submitted for international approval to the IMO and professional bodies, we are taking the first steps to help support IMO and the EU achieving their stated emission targets through better management of energy on board vessels.
Visit the MariEMS project website
Project partners
Solent University (UK), Centre for Factories of the Future (UK), TEAM srl (Italy), Polytechnic University of Catalonia (Barcelona), Satakunta University of Applied Sciences (Finland), Spinaker d.o.o (Slovenia), Makroshipping (Turkey), Port of Rauma (Finland), Bahçeşehir University (Turkey).
Access summaries of chapters and training manual
Read chapter summaries and the training manual
To access the summaries of the chapters, a user account is required.
Once a user account is created, log in to the platform.
Click on to the courses menu on the left navigation pane.
Choose the course and then click on the chapter name to access the summaries.
