Norwegian tug operator increases efficiency and climate friendliness with Blueflow

Oslo-based marine services company Buksér & Berging AS expects to save fuel and reduce emissions with the Blueflow energy management system. Equally importantly, the company will improve the efficiency of its operations, for example through improved invoicing and faster emissions reporting, and obtain a great overview of its entire fleet.

“From our perspective, green operations are a win-win situation. When you reduce fuel consumption and emissions, you increase profitability,” remarks Project Manager Åsmund Eika of Norwegian marine services company Buksér og Berging AS. “However, it requires that we’re able to carefully plan our operations, for example optimising transit and relocation of ships so we can sail economically.”

Active since 1913 and headquartered in Oslo, Norway, Buksér og Berging AS (BUBE for short) is a privately owned company recognised for its modern, fit-for-purpose vessels providing safe and efficient operations. Among its services are harbour towage and ship escort, offshore platform support and salvage and emergency response, and BUBE aims to have a modern fleet of tugs, offshore support vessels and pilot boats to provide its wide range of specialist marine operations.

Great overview with the Blueflow Wallboard

The unique overview provided by Blueflow allows BUBE management to improve administrative processes such as invoicing and emissions reporting.

“We can easily get information such as operating hours, fuel consumption and distances covered for each phase of every tug operation and use that information for invoicing,” explains Åsmund Eika, adding that Blueflow will also help the company carry out mandatory reporting tasks: “For NOx reporting in particular, Blueflow has a unique functionality that makes it a useful tool for calculating and reporting NOx emissions for the authorities – both for our crews and for our admin staff on land.”

Another Blueflow feature that eases everyday operations for BUBE is the Blueflow Wallboard; a large wall-mounted screen at the company’s Oslo office that shows fuel and energy consumption, CO2 and NOx emissions, and operating hours and distances covered – for the entire fleet and for each individual ship. The Wallboard is configurable and can be adapted to show the information needed.

“We’re planning to adapt the Wallboard to show our KPIs to give us a real-time overview of how we’re doing in relation to our objectives”, says Åsmund Eika. “We’ll also be able to track development over time and quickly see if activity levels are going up or down. We’ll be able to see if we’re using our fleet optimally, or if there’s anything we need to address.”