(openPR) Hamburg: Building on DNV’s vast vessel database (NPS) the organization has launched DNV Benchmark, an advanced benchmarking tool to allow shipowners and managers access to valuable performance data to reduce operational costs and improve vessel safety.
DNV Benchmark is a decision support tool, allowing shipowners and managers to identify underperforming vessels in their fleet across a broad range of criteria including Safety, Pollution, Machinery, Hull and Safety Management. By benchmarking fleet performance against other similar vessels of similar age, owners and managers can make better decisions specifically targeted to improve the performance of individual vessels that do not meet performance expectations.
According to Michael Aasland, segment director in DNV, the project grew out of DNV’s survey reporting system NPS; a comprehensive vessel database covering all DNV classed ships. “The industry has become increasingly focused on reducing costs and improving safety creating a demand for better, more specific information about vessel performance,” he says. “We recognised that DNV’s vessel database represented a valuable source of information which could be used by customers to make better decisions. We therefore developed the benchmarking service, and we are offering the Initial Benchmark report free of charge as an advantage of having DNV class.”
Gjermund Våge, service director in DNV notes that DNV’s database includes hundreds of thousands of findings from surveys all over the world, detailing a broad range of issues impacting vessel performance. “Our challenge was to organise this information and develop a tool optimised for customer use,” he says. “We have tested the concept with several shipowners, and the results have exceeded our expectations.”
Våge explains that DNV’s product model structure enables extraction of survey findings which indicates the performance of a vessel within five main areas: Safety, Pollution, Machinery, Hull and Safety Management. The performance of a vessel is then compared with the benchmark performance of similar ships of similar age from the shipowners fleet, or all vessels classed by DNV. No information of any particular vessels is of course shared with others than the owner – it is only used for benchmarking purposes. In addition, DNV Benchmark allows owners to monitor vessel performance over time.
Michael Aasland goes on to say that while DNV offers the benchmarking service free of charge to customers, DNV also provides more specialised services based on the benchmarking data to help owners achieve better results, faster. “We have the expertise to provide in-depth statistical analysis of survey findings on selected vessels, detailed benchmarking reports and offer recommendations verified by DNV experts specializing in safety management, pollution, machinery and hull,” he says. “We believe that by making this information available to DNV customers, we can help the industry reduce cost and improve safety.”
