Ship manager Bernhard Schulte ran, in collaboration with clean-tech company Signol, a pilot project where seafarers were encouraged to change behavior to see the change’s impact on reducing a ship’s energy demand and emissions. The data showed ”promising results,” the ship manager reveals.

The study combined analysis of operational data from a selection of Bernard Schulte Shipmanagement Deutschland-managed vessels and behavioral science from the data collected in Signol’s app.

The pilot ran for six months in the latter half of 2021, according to a company press release.

Bernhard Schulte states that when looking at the data collected during the pilot, the test showed ”promising results on single vessels which need to be verified by further tests. The R&D project proved that seafarers can be nudged and become aware of their individual influence on major challenges.”

60 Masters and Chief Engineers across 28 vessels were invited to take part on a voluntary basis. During the run of the pilot, the seafarers got personalized targets through the Signol app, based on calculations of their previous performance. On a weekly basis the participants would receive updates on their milestones and achievements, the company says.

The participants also received nudging from the app on how to save fuel.

”Through a combination of fair targets and positive feedback, Signol gently nudged individual Masters and Chief Engineers to implement fuel-saving practices,” the company release states.

Nick Topham, managing director of BSM Deutschland, says that he is overall pleased with the outcome of the project and that it has proved BSM’s hypothesis that seafarers are not only important key workers but that they also play an essential role in the wide-scale industry project of decarbonization.

“We are impressed by the individual efforts of all participating Captains and Chief Engineers to reduce fuel consumption and CO₂ emissions. In the long run, it can provide a great added value to our owners and charterers’ operations, and to the achievement of climate targets,” Topham says in the statement.

Schulte Group has also made an investment in Signol, the release informs, and it seems their collaboration will keep going.

”To better evaluate the benefits and opportunities of behavioral science, BSM intends to strengthen its collaboration with Signol and to conduct further tests with interested partners. The aim is to review and harness all possibilities to reduce the carbon footprint: technical, operational, and indeed behavioral,” the company states.

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