How Rio Tinto Turned Retrofit Success Into a Scalable Strategy for Fleet-Wide Efficiency

Rio Tinto and Njord Expands collaboration post first successful installations

After strong results from four initial retrofit installations, Rio Tinto partners with Njord to double the number of installations while initiating the monitoring of energy efficiency and emissions performance across its entire fleet.

Rio Tinto is deepening its commitment to sustainable shipping by expanding its collaboration with Njord for further installations and by rolling out full-fleet performance and efficiency technology monitoring. The decision follows a successful program of four completed vessel installations and four in pipeline - including both owned and time-chartered tonnage - which delivered verified improvements in fuel efficiency and emissions reduction.  

To celebrate the milestone of two recent large-scale efficiency retrofits, Njord presented Rio Tinto with a token of gratitude, marking the verified impact achieved through the collaboration. Each token includes a Njord Score for Energy Efficiency, which highlights the vessels progression of adopting commercially viable energy efficiency technologies.

“The results from our initial installations with Njord have demonstrated measurable fuel and emissions savings, validating our approach to retrofit solutions and performance monitoring. Expanding this collaboration allows us to continue to progress towards our marine decarbonisation goals, while applying data-driven insights to improve efficiency across our broader fleet,” says Andrew Watt, Marine Performance at Rio Tinto.

In addition to the completed retrofit installations, the expanded collaboration will focus on data and insight thorough performance monitoring and management. Njord will support Rio Tinto with advanced performance analytics across its full shipping portfolio - applying lessons learned from the initial projects to benchmark and optimize operations more broadly while scouting for new energy efficiency levers.  

"We are proud to support Rio Tinto as they take the next step in their decarbonization journey", said Frederik Pind, Managing Director of Njord. "Besides highlighting our past successful efforts, this collaboration milestone also underscores Rio Tinto’s ongoing commitment to data-driven progress and sustainable leadership".  

The collaboration showcases a scalable model for decarbonization in shipping - where phased technology adoption, rigorous measurement, and strong collaboration drive both environmental and business value.  

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