According to a press release 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.
Widely recognised for its proven high energy efficiency, this latest 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.
In the quest to provide further transparency in its cold chain operations, Maersk Line has been running Remote Container Management (RCM) for several years, a system that brings real-time transparency into the company’s cold chain operations. Gaining further visibility into energy use is expected to provide substantial value in the area of energy consumption, which accounts for considerable operational costs.
“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.”
With retailers and consumers increasingly focusing on the carbon footprint of the goods they buy, a reliable energy measurement tool will enable the shipping industry to provide documented evidence of CO2 emissions: not just for their vessels but right down to the individual reefer container.
“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 to 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.
