Marine fuel management

MFM has grown in importance due to the rising costs of marine fuel[1] and increasing government oversight of the pollution generated by the world's shipping fleet.

It supports the analysis of the effectiveness of operating strategies and helps develop a clearer understanding of how well a vessel uses its fuel.

Periodically measuring tank levels using traditional manual methods is not accurate enough or timely, given the volumes of fuel that a marine engine can consume.

For example, understanding how a vessel burns fuel on certain parts of a voyage, allows the more accurate bidding of container rates so profit margins stay healthy.

Wind, current, hull condition, load, and propulsion system health can all impact fuel burn both positively or negatively.

One must do the workflow calculations on how the propulsion system is operating under existing changing conditions and then tie that to fuel consumption.

Some modern fuel management systems are designed to perform these calculations while underway and make recommendations to the vessel master.