WAPS are gaining traction as an important decarbonisation lever, but uptake is still far below what is needed to meet regulatory targets.

A major barrier is its inherently variable fuel savings, which depend on operational and environmental factors such as routing and weather conditions. This challenge is further compounded by the lack of a standardised method to accurately quantify WAPS performance during real-world operations.

Our approach

Drawing on ITTC and DNV guidelines, GCMD and EPS implemented a WAPS performance monitoring method to measure suction sails’ performance on the Pacific Sentinel.

The method included:

• High-frequency data collection
• An on-off testing and data screening protocol to identify stable transitions
• Statistical analysis to isolate and quantify energy savings from the sails

Key findings

Over four months of testing, we observed a range of power savings across different wind conditions:

• Mean instantaneous power savings: 7.2% (95% confidence interval of 6.2-8.2%)
• We also observed peak savings of up to 28.1% and negative savings of -14.0%, though both were statistically rare.

Why the findings matter

Rather than relying on a single aggregated value, this analysis captures the full distribution of observed power savings linked to wind conditions. This provides a more realistic and confidence-based understanding of suction sail performance on the Pacific Sentinel.

How quantified savings unlock capital for scaling EET adoption

This pilot shows how much, and under what conditions, WAPS deliver savings. As GCMD runs more pilots, larger datasets will enable modelling and fuel savings predictions across diverse operating conditions.

With quantified and verifiable savings, a pay-as-you-save repayment mechanism becomes viable, linking repayments directly to measured performance.

This underpins our recently launched Fund for Energy Efficiency Technologies (FEET) fund, which decouples retrofit financing from vessel mortgages by offering unsecured leases.

You can download the report here: https://gcformd.us3.list-manage.com/track/click?u=23f7bdd9c29219cd2bd6f1a4f&id=01acae76e6&e=d3717682e3

Source: Global Center for Maritime Decarbonisation

Platts proposes to remove single terminal origin requirement for WTI Midland cargoes supplied via STS transfer from larger vessels in Dated Brent

Platts, part of S&P Global Energy, proposes to remove its single terminal origin requirement for WTI Midland Aframax cargoes supplied via ship-to-ship transfer from larger vessels in its North Sea Market on Close assessment process and Dated Brent, from May 1, 2026.

Platts understands that when loading a larger vessel, such as a VLCC, as an alternative to an Aframax, prevailing market practice is to load from multiple terminals in the US Gulf Coast.

Under the current methodology, all the oil on board a larger vessel must have originated from a single Platts-approved terminal for it to supply WTI Midland in the Dated Brent MOC via ship-to-ship transfer onto an Aframax for final delivery.

Under the proposal, Platts would expect all parcels on board the larger vessel to:

• Be carried in segregated cargo tanks and have separate Bills of Lading;
• Meet Platts’ global WTI Midland specifications;
• Have demonstrably loaded from one, or a combination of, US Gulf Coast Terminals approved by Platts.

In practice, this would mean that individual parcels would need to remain segregated on board the larger vessel to ensure each parcel delivered into a Dated Brent MOC trade can be traced back to its original terminal, and there should be no oil on board the vessel that does not meet Platts WTI Midland specifications nor be from a non-Platts approved terminal, irrespective of segregation.

Platts also expects that any Aframax delivered into Dated Brent should continue to only contain WTI Midland from a single Platts-approved terminal.
Source: Platts