Austral Fisheries exceeds expectations in fuel savings

Atlas Cove has exceeded expectations in fuel savings and emissions reduction

"This was a really exciting project for us. It made sense financially, with a sound return on investment, as well as environmentally, by reducing our emissions in the process", says Peter Stevens, General Manager at Austral

The amazing Atlas Cove Story

An investment that paid for itself in less than 3 years

Told by Peter Stevens, General Manager, Southern Deep Sea Fisheries
Austral Fisheries, Western Australia, December 2020

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This is a great story with a project that involved Austral Fisheries & Brunvoll in looking at reducing Fuel Consumption & Carbon offset costs on the fishing Vessel Atlas Cove (ex Osterbris out of Bergen Norway).

The work program involved changing to a bespoke Brunvoll Multi Step Gearbox along with a reduction in the Main Engine Horsepower & Variable Frequency PTO off the stern of the Gearbox with an expectation of fuel savings between 19 – 22%.

There was quite a considerable amount of work required but she sailed on time and without incident for a 100-day trip to the remote sub-Antarctic waters of Heard Island.

It took about 6 months for the captains to come to understand and really extract the full value of the new drive train to achieve what ended up being operational and fuel efficiency gains that could only be described as ‘amazing’.

In 2019, the Atlas Cove achieved a 37% fuel saving compared to its pre-refit consumption figures.

This compares very closely with 2018 (38%).

In real numbers this is 1,185,887 L of fuel, and 3666t CO2-e emissions saved in 2019.

At 85c/L for fuel, this is a $1,008,000 saving.

As well asa ~$44,000 saving worth of carbon offsets.

Some good news from 2020, with a slightly different mix of fishing, the Atlas Cove saved a whopping 45% on fuel usage compared to its pre-refit consumption. This equates to 994,000 L fuel saved, and 3069t CO2-e emissions.

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At 78c/L this is a $775,000 saving, plus an additional $32,000 worth of carbon offset savings.

Note that this investment has paid for itself in less than 3 yrs.

This gearbox is the gift that keeps on giving!

2-speed gearbox - potential for huge savings

A vessel may have huge improvement potential by upgrading the propulsion system.

The entire propulsion configuration including energy sources and type of propellers and gearboxes should be analyzed towards the actual operation profile of the vessel.

Many vessels were designed for other purposes than today's operation and could gain a lot by upgrading the propulsion plant to meet the actual requirements.

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