MCI said that as well as the ability to improve measuring tolerances during pre trip inspection (PTI) and function tests, the new power module offers “a range of tangible benefits and future possibilities”.

These include greater transparency when it comes to the actual power consumption of a reefer container, as the module will log consumption in watts every hour. “With this information, which can be seen on the reefer’s display and data log, it will be possible to determine actual power consumption during any given period and under any specific conditions,” stated MCI.

“Power consumption can now be accurately recorded for the whole journey, or just part of it, onboard a specific vessel, while the reefer is at a terminal, during a PTI test, and more. As well as making energy consumption and CO2 calculations easier and more accurate, this will enable reefer operators to pay only for the energy they actually use, rather than for assumed power consumption.”

Energy consumption and charging is something of a black hole in the industry at the moment. Terminals, for example, typically charge a daily fee for power that is the same whether the shipper brings a hot load into the terminal and uses its power to draw down the container to temperature, or uses only a much smaller amount of power to maintain temperature.

Similarly, lines that invest in more energy-efficient equipment today see little or no benefit from lower energy costs unless the container is on their own vessel (and not an alliance partner). MCI also noted that power metering has value to the company itself as a reefer manufacturer, through “the ability to prove the energy efficiency of its reefer containers with constant hard data”.

Power metering has been considered before, but the logistics and processes to manage it manually were a huge barrier to adoption. With remote reefer monitoring, which Maersk Line now has, it is possible to collect and send power data remotely. Remote reefer monitoring has already ‘disrupted’ the way Maersk Line pays for reefer monitoring services, and it seems about to do the same for power charging.

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This complete item is approximately 1000 words in length, and appeared in the November 2016 issue of WorldCargo News, on page 22. To access this issue download the PDF here.