The French operator started using Adrena's AdrenaShip routing software around ten years ago. The system optimises routes and speed profiles for the weather and currents met on each voyage, and it cut fuel use by about 4%.

In 2022 Brittany Ferries brought in BV Solutions M&O to improve the software's predictions. BV Solutions M&O worked with the operator's engineering teams and crews to build digital twins of the vessels. With the twins, AdrenaShip can give more detailed routing proposals and also recommend engine configurations. This added a further two percentage points of savings.

The partners compared real crossings with and without AdrenaShip routing, supported by the digital twins, and say the results confirm the software's accuracy and reliability. Monitoring of GALICIA confirmed an average saving of around 6% in energy consumption when the system is used to its full potential. Nine ships in the Brittany Ferries fleet now have the digital twin routing.

According to the partners, schedules and service quality have not suffered. They expect further gains as more on-board data is added and the models keep improving.

"This success is based above all on collective work with the crews, whose feedback has made it possible to continuously improve the tools over the years," said Brice Robinson, design and project manager at Brittany Ferries. "The results obtained show that it is possible to reduce the energy consumption of our ships while preserving the reliability of our operations and the experience offered to our customers."

Michel Rodet, president and founder of Adrena, said the GALICIA results validated the company's routing and consumption prediction model at 97% reliability. Adrena has been developing the model for almost 15 years, and the test ran under real commercial conditions with tight ETA constraints. "This level of accuracy has been tested in the field, not in a simulated environment. It has been measured on real crossings, by an independent organisation, over nearly two years of study," he said.

Laurent Verney, European director of Bureau Veritas Solutions M&O, said standardised solutions are a first step in maritime decarbonisation but "plateau quite quickly". "To achieve sustainable performance, you need tailor-made solutions that fully meet the real constraints of the vessel's operation and that evolve with its context," he said.

The results are especially significant for Brittany Ferries' type of operation. Its RoPax vessels mainly run short, time-constrained crossings between France, the United Kingdom, Guernsey, Ireland and Spain. The project is part of the operator's wider decarbonisation programme, which also uses BV Solutions M&O's OptiCARBON decision-support platform. The platform helps with day-to-day operational choices and with investment decisions on retrofits and fleet renewal.

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