Abstract
• We explore the agency for energy efficiency in all major types of ship operations. • How do voyage planning and execution decisions affect energy efficiency? • Commercial decisions matter more for energy efficiency than operational decisions. • Networked agency for energy efficiency limits climate change mitigation potential. • Policymakers should expand regulatory focus to cargo owners to reduce emissions. To mitigate climate change due to international shipping, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) requires shipowners and ship technical managers to improve the energy efficiency of ships’ operations. This paper studies how voyage planning and execution decisions affect energy efficiency and distinguishes between the commercial and nautical components of energy efficiency. Commercial decisions for voyage planning depend on dynamic market conditions and matter more for energy efficiency than nautical decisions do for voyage execution. The paper identifies the people involved in decision-making processes and advances the energy-efficiency literature by revealing the highly networked nature of agency for energy efficiency. The IMO’s current energy efficiency regulations fail to distinguish between the commercial and nautical aspects of energy efficiency, which limits the ability to mitigate climate change through regulatory measures. Policymakers should expand their regulatory focus beyond shipowners and technical managers to cargo owners to improve energy efficiency and reduce maritime transport emissions.
Highlights
To mitigate climate change from maritime transport, the United Nations’ (UNs’) International Maritime Organization (IMO) re quires shipowners and ship technical managers to continuously improve the energy efficiency of their ships’ operations
A vessel performance manager with a seafaring background, responsible for energy efficiency, explained why he saw high vessel utilization as the key aspect of energy-efficient ship operations: “For the Efficiency Operational Indicator (EEOI), you cannot tell whether the main engine is adjusted correctly
The operational measure of engine fine-tuning will be discussed in Section 4.3, but the important point to note is the huge importance for energy efficiency that the technical expert assigned to commercial decisions
Summary
To mitigate climate change from maritime transport, the United Nations’ (UNs’) International Maritime Organization (IMO) re quires shipowners and ship technical managers to continuously improve the energy efficiency of their ships’ operations. In 2018, the IMO adopted an initial greenhouse gas (GHG) abatement strategy, aiming to lower “CO2 emissions per transport-work, as an average across international shipping, by at least 40% by 2030, pursuing efforts toward 70% by 2050 compared to 2008” (IMO, 2018). In line with this ambition, it recently tightened energy efficiency requirements for shipowners and technical managers by introducing a mandatory, annual operational carbon intensity indicator (CII).
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