The impact of the EEDI on the Finnish-Swedish winter navigation system

Abstract

The International Energy Efficiency Design Index (EEDI) regulations have gradually enforced higher demands on the energy efficiency of all newly built vessels (from 2013 and onwards) which furthermore has affected the overall performance of merchant vessels. The Finnish–Swedish Winter Navigation System (FSWNS) is a co-operation between Finland and Sweden aiming to establish an effective and safe navigation system, from and to the ports of both countries. The objective of this master thesis is to carry out an assessment of how the energy efficiency regulations of EEDI have affected the operating capability of the FSWNS until this point in time. The operating capability of the FSWNS is measured by assessing how efficiently the competent authorities of Finland and Sweden offered their IB services. Moreover, the impact of the EEDI ships on the FSWNS is measured by assessing their ice-going capability in comparison with ships constructed prior to the enforcement of the regulations. The methodology for gathering data to assess the impact of the EEDI on the FSWNS was carried out through a mixed methods approach of semi-structured interviews and a maritime data collection. Overall, it was found that up until this point in time the impact of EEDI on the operating performance of the FSWNS was not significant and not majorly noticeable. A few justifications for these results are that the regulations do not apply for the vast majority of the fleet operating in the Bay of Bothnia and even though a reduced ice-going capability of the assisted vessels was apparent, it was believed to be mainly due to external factors. One of the most important factors appears to be vessels aiming to increase their open water efficiency (e.g., design modifications) in order to decrease fuel consumption and thus reduce overall operating costs. As aforementioned, this study puts a greater focus on the winter season of 2017-2018 in the Bay of Bothnia, primarily due to the existing ice conditions which were considered somewhat normal in perspective with the records of the last decades. Furthermore, the interview’s target groups were employees of the Finnish and Swedish maritime administrations, shipping companies’ representatives, researchers as well as individuals operating in the research topic.