Maersk Tankers’ digital spin-off is beginning its formal operation on Thursday with hundreds of vessels already using its software to reduce bunker consumption.
In a press statement, ZeroNorth said it already has more than 300 vessels from six customers running the Optimise software that was formerly known as SimBunker.
Targeting the tanker and bulker sectors, the digital tool is designed to find each ship’s optimal speed based on prevailing freight rates, bunker prices, weather and individual vessel performance.
'Profound understanding'
“We are going to market with a profound understanding of owners and operators’ needs, stemming from our 90 years of shipping heritage, which we are combining with the expertise of a technology start-up,” said ZeroNorth’s chief executive Soren Meyer, previously Maersk Tankers’ chief asset officer.
Maersk Tankers estimated it had saved bunker costs by $8m since the pool manager’s adoption of Optimise in June 2019. The software can reduce carbon dioxide emissions from shipping and increase earnings at the same time by cutting marine fuel usage, according to ZeroNorth.
“If the global fleet adopts our software, we see the potential to cut 50m metric tonnes of CO2 emissions and increase the industry’s revenue by $12bn over the next five years,” Meyer added.
“Slashing CO2 emissions at the same time as making a positive impact on the bottom line is key to the industry’s future prosperity.”
Developed in 2019, the Optimise software has attracted an increasing number of users and ZeroNorth is expecting further expansion.
When first unveiling its plan to launch ZeroNorth in January, Maersk Tankers was envisaging an initial team of 12 staffers deployed from its digital arm to manage two external clients.
Having made some external hires in the past few months, ZeroNorth started with 38 employees with backgrounds in mathematical modelling, software engineering, data science, data engineering and shipping.
Expansion
The company plans to expand its size to up to 100 employees in the coming years and develop more software products over time. Wholly owned by Maersk Tankers currently, ZeroNorth said it would seek to attract strategic investors from the tramp sectors for the expansion.
“The tramp shipping industry is bound to be reshaped and become more sustainable — and ZeroNorth is being established with exactly this aim in mind,” said chairman Christian M Ingerslev, who is also Maersk Tankers’ chief executive.
“As an independent company, it will be able to accelerate its strategy of using digitalisation to reduce CO2 emissions to the benefit of the industry as a whole.”
