Blue Visby Solution^™

Ships sail to their destination at their service speed, without regard for the local conditions, and there wait at the anchorage until a berth becomes available.

The Blue Visby Solution delivers emissions reductions of about 15% through a speed reduction of about 1 knot on average, which is well within the operational parameters of the existing commercial fleet. The reduction of operational emissions today is necessary pursuant to the IMO regulatory requirements of the Carbon Intensity Indicator (CII),  as well as the commitments of charterers, traders and cargo owners under SCOPE 3. Reducing emissions today is also imperative to reduce committed and cumulative emissions and meet the 1.5C target.

While the decarbonization destination is set, both the target dates and the paths differ. Amidst all that uncertainty, one thing is certain: All potential replacements for marine fossil fuels – including ammonia, methanol, and hydrogen – have a lower energy density, and are far more expensive than marine fuel oil. Their adoption will require a step-change in operational efficiency, and SFTW is simply unsustainable on the path to decarbonization. About 7% of the entire life of a tanker or a bulk carrier is spent waiting at anchorage. It is estimated that trillions of USD will be required for the maritime industry to decarbonize. It is inconceivable that this level of investment will be made for all those new ships burning expensive new fuels to Sail Fast, Then Wait.

The Blue Visby Solution does not seek to optimize the voyage of an individual ship, but only to optimize the arrival time of a group of ships sailing to the same destination.

According to independent research, adoption of Blue Visby Solution would reduce underwater noise pollution by 45% and the risk of striking whales by 40%.

According to several publications, biofouling increases significantly every day of anchorage in warm waters, and hull fouling contributes greatly to increased fuel consumption and GHG emissions.

The Blue Visby Solution deploys state-of-the-art systems – optimization software, technologies for weather and maritime conditions monitoring and forecasting, earth observation systems, and electronic charts – but requires no new on-board systems or retrofits.

The Blue Visby Solution is based on a contractual architecture that is designed to be compatible with the standard terms of maritime contracts, and does not require new legislation or regulations. The Blue Visby Solution leverages one of the most enduring features of the world of maritime trade: Party autonomy and freedom of contract under English law.

The Blue Visby Solution adopts a systems optimization approach and does not seek to optimize the operations of an individual ship or an individual port. Instead, it approaches a group of vessels steaming to the same destination as a system and applies Theory of Constraint optimization principles to optimize their arrival, to minimize their emissions.

The Blue Visby Solution is compatible with all voyage planning and weather routing software. Not only does it not compete with the providers of such software, but it assists their task by providing a target arrival date for individual ships.

The Blue Visby Solution includes a multilateral sharing mechanism for the costs and benefits of its implementation amongst all stakeholders of the vessel’s voyage. This multilateral feature differentiates the Blue Visby Solution from earlier attempts at a “Virtual Arrival” approach, which were bilateral between shipowners and charterers.

The main obstacle to removing operational inefficiencies is the so-called problem of split incentives. The Blue Visby Solution removes that obstacle by introducing a sharing mechanism for the costs and benefits of its implementation: Blue GA. Its inspiration is the age-old maritime tradition of general average, under which the stakeholders of the vessel’s voyage contribute towards the expenses necessary to “save the common maritime adventure”, when it is threatened by an emergency or by the perils of the seas. The climate emergency is also a threat, not to the common maritime adventure of one ship, but to the entire world of maritime trade. The Blue Visby Solution “declares general average” to remove the obstacle of split incentives.

The maritime industry is often criticized as being individualistic and hyper-competitive. However, it is also profoundly collaborative when dealing with common threats. At the voyage level, the best illustration is the general average. More widely, collaboration is exemplified by industry associations, which set common standards and deal with problems that are common to all. An integral part of the Blue Visby Solution is an mutual association modelled on P&I Clubs, which oversee the relationship between the participants and administers Blue GA.

The Blue Visby Solution proudly builds on the maritime industry’s unique strengths, history and traditions. It is committed to remaining neutral, independent, inclusive and transparent to reduce emissions to benefit the entire industry.

In his book The Climate Emergency, Bill Gates writes that “innovation is not only new devices and new technologies, but also new ways of doing things”. The Blue Visby Solution has created a new way of doing things, enabling international maritime trade to deliver CO₂ emissions reductions at an unprecedented scale in this hard-to-abate industry.