Case study: How fleet optimisation helps Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. in 6 powerful ways

• Challenge: Ensure more consistent vessel performance across the fleet
  
• Solution: The Wärtsilä Voyage Benchmarking+ programme
  
• Benefit: Significant fuel and emissions savings as well as better understanding of how to use data to create a stronger performance culture

Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. (NCLH) have used Wärtsilä fleet optimisation tools on their vessels for over a decade to improve energy efficiency and reduce fuel consumption and emissions. Over the years, Wärtsilä and NCLH have worked together to refine the implementation and ensure more consistent performance – unlocking greater value and improving sustainability.

The challenge: ensure consistent vessel efficiency

NCLH’s Sail & Sustain® programme incorporates collective action and climate action planning into its operations through NCLH’s Caring for Nature pillar. Safety and energy efficiency play a critical role in NCLH’s strategy to pursue its short and long-term greenhouse gas emission reduction targets. NCLH’s strategy to improve energy efficiency onboard its ships is supported by Eniram by Wärtsilä, the fleet optimisation solution for cruise. The solution offers practical tools to make sailing more efficient, which saves fuel and cuts emissions.

The solution: the Wärtsilä Voyage Benchmarking+ programme

NCLH decided to implement the Wärtsilä Voyage Benchmarking+ programme to get maximum benefit from their fleet optimisation tools. As part of the programme, NCLH and Wärtsilä track variances between how efficiently the vessel operates in practice and how efficiently the vessel could operate when optimised.

The Voyage Benchmarking+ programme also helps to create a more effective performance culture in companies through a set methodology. Voyage Benchmarking+ is a separate service led by the Wärtsilä Advisory Team. The team’s role is to make sure that customers get maximum value from their Wärtsilä solutions.

Four key elements for creating a stronger performance culture 

Voyage Benchmarking+ strengthens NCLH’s performance culture in four essential ways:

• Shared understanding: The programme ensures that everyone – from crew to management – understands the goal of reducing fuel consumption and emissions to support NCLH’s decarbonisation journey. This shared understanding is reinforced through Wärtsilä’s onboard training sessions, where crews across the fleet receive hands-on guidance on using Eniram tools effectively.
• Transparency: excitement around savings starts with communication and exposure to trusted data. This drives the adoption of new behaviours and gets all stakeholders around the same table.
• Target setting: setting clear targets can drive healthy competition and sustainable behaviour change.
• Continuous improvement: the goal is to move from reactive analysis of fleet performance to proactive and agile behaviour. This helps improvements to be made consistently, effectively and in partnership.

NCLH now expects to achieve more consistent – and better – results from the Eniram by Wärtsilä tools, which will lead to even greater fuel savings.

The benefits so far

During the first 10 months of the Voyage Benchmarking+ programme, Wärtsilä estimates that the programme has already achieved the following benefits for NCLH:

1. Significant fuel savings
2. Reduced CO2 emissions
3. An enhanced performance culture 
4. Improved utilisation of fleet optimisation tools
5. A closer partnership with Wärtsilä
6. More proactive behaviour from crews

What’s next for NCLH?

Wärtsilä and NCLH will continue to work together to further improve the efficiency of NCLH’s fleet. The goal is to regularly review fleet and vessel-specific targets to drive maximum fuel and emission savings.

The two companies are also continuing to innovate together. Based on observations and discussions during onboard visits by the Wärtsilä Advisory team, several collaborative proof-of-concepts have been launched.

These initiatives reflect a shared commitment to pushing the boundaries of digital transformation in maritime operations. 

Interested in finding out how Voyage Benchmarking+ can help improve performance on vessels running Wärtsilä fleet optimisation tools? Contact us.