The global increase in the price of fuels has impacted all sectors, including businesses in the marine industry. As a result, businesses are now actively taking efforts to ensure maximum fuel efficiency. This blog elucidates the importance of a fuel management system in the marine industry –
To begin with, what is fuel management?
In simple words, fuel management refers to monitoring and controlling fuel consumption and expenses for a business as well as ensuring environmental safety. Nowadays, businesses make use of such systems to achieve optimum fuel efficiency and minimize fuel-related expenses. These systems track inventory and idling periods across your fleet to find bottlenecks in fuel utilization. They are designed to improve fuel control, fuel efficiency, fuel procurement, and much more!
How do fuel management systems work?
The latest fuel management solutions are adept at consolidating business operations to maximize productivity. On a vessel without a fuel management system, fuel consumption is measured by inserting sounding sticks or tape into each fuel tank or by checking the level indicators on all the tanks. This way, the quantity of fuel consumed during a specific journey can be easily determined using a manual method.
However, a fuel management system goes the extra mile for you by supplying extra information on fuel usage in addition to the amount of fuel utilized. The other variables offered by a marine fuel management system include:
- The quantity of fuel consumed when at sea or in port
- The volume consumed by a specific engine/generators
- An evaluation of the fuel amount consumed over voyages; and
- The fuel consumed by a given crew, etc.
Furthermore, the system gives a thorough breakdown of each fuel oil-using device that is on board the vessel and even enables the crew to monitor every drop of fuel, which tends to lower fuel use and boosts overall efficiency.
Fuel Management Systems in the Marine Sector
Marine fuel management (MFM) is a multi-dimensional strategy for calculating, tracking, and recording fuel consumption aboard a ship or boat with the objectives of lowering fuel consumption, raising operational effectiveness, and enhancing fleet management. MFM has become more significant in current times owing to growing marine fuel prices and increased government regulations regarding the pollution produced by the global shipping industry.
What Problems do Fuel Management Systems Solve?
1. High-Quality Fuel Procurement:
Regular fuel screening is essential to ensure that the fuel oil and bunker you use are suitable for their intended purpose. A good system will help you procure high-quality fuel for your vessel.
2. Tracking Fuel Prices:
With fuel transaction records integrated into smart analytics, you get the capability to discover which fuel brands offer the best savings as well as correlate and contrast fuel usage across the fleet. The breakdown of fuel costs helps gain an in-depth understanding of exactly how and where you’re spending your money.
3. Making Fuel Tax Calculations and Reports:
A system that is connected to your boat’s GPS coordinates can quickly determine how much fuel you’ve bought and used, among other factors that the system would need for the purposes of filing your IFTA taxes.
About DockMaster’s Fuel Integration Partner – FuelCloud:
FuelCloud combines hardware, a web portal, and a mobile application to give users real-time insight into their fuel. With FuelCloud, our customers can track and control every gallon in their on-site tanks for a fraction of the cost of traditional systems. Manage inventory, run custom reports, automatically file tax forms, and protect your fuel with the click of a button. To request a free demo, click here.
