Maersk Container Industry launches power meter for reefers

News 14 Jun 2017 by WCN Editorial

The ability to measure actual power consumption on its Star Cool reefers opens up new possibilities for MCI customers.

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Container Terminals and depots around the world with Maersk Line as a customer should get ready to have a conversation about billing the carrier for actual power consumption of its reefer containers, rather than a fixed daily fee.

MCI's Star Cool refrigerated containers are now fitted with a new embedded digital feature that offers “visibility and precise knowledge of actual energy consumption”.

“To provide transparency into actual energy consumption throughout the transportation window, over land and sea, Maersk Container Industry (MCI) is introducing an energy meter feature integrated into all new Star Cool refrigerated containers. Maersk Line, the world’s largest container shipping company and part of Maersk’s Transport & Logistics division, became the first of MCI’s customers to take delivery of the new Star Cool reefers at the start of the year,” MCI said in statement.

For some time now Lines have been frustrated that investments in new reefers with much lower energy consumption have not, by and large, been recognised by container terminals with lower energy charges. MCI’s new development enables Star Cool reefers to log energy consumption in real time. "The data can be monitored either via a modem or manually, at any time during the voyage, from when the Star Cool reefer is first turned on until it reaches its final destination,” said MCI. The company confirmed that actual energy consumption is measured with a meter, and not using an extrapolation from operating parameters .

Power metering is a logical next step for Maersk Line’s Remote Container Management (RCM) system, and it expects to get full benefit from data on energy consumption.

“Taking our 270,000 reefer containers online has provided significant operational cost savings and will give our customers unprecedented visibility into their cargo during transport, enabling better planning across their supply chains. Being able to accurately track the energy consumption of individual Star Cool reefer containers is a valuable add on for us”, said Catja Hjorth Rasmussen, Head of Equipment Excellence at Maersk Line. “It means that we can monitor actual energy consumption from point-to-point for different commodities, which supports not only cost optimisation but also our sustainability goals.”

Sustainability goals include the carbon footprint of goods shipped in reefers, and power consumption data will provide this down to the individual container level.

“Delivering best-in-class energy efficiency has always been at the core of our innovation culture and we are very excited to be able to provide our customers with a window directly into the detailed real-time energy consumption of Star Cool reefers”, explained Søren Leth Johannsen, Chief Commercial Officer of MCI. “This will provide operators with clear knowledge of the performance of their Star Cool reefers and allow them to optimise operations and utilisation.”

“The new Star Cool energy meter is an industry first. Previously, operators needed to rely on third-party devices to capture energy data, which could only be read manually during the voyage. As it was not logged, the data could not be used for future comparisons. The Star Cool refrigeration unit logs all data in real time, which can then be used to support strategic cost- and fleet optimisation processes,” MCI concluded.