Environmental effects of emission control areas and reduced speed zones on container ship operation

Abstract

To examine the dual environmental effects of emission control areas (ECAs) and reduced speed zones (RSZs), this study formulates an integrated container ship operation optimization model based on the fundamental facet of liner-service market. Capturing the critical characteristics of container ship operation, the proposed model explicitly incorporates the entire voyage that consists of container ship sailing and port activities as well as nonproductive stay in port. Compared to the separate establishment of ECAs, joint regulations of ECAs and RSZs can lead to more SOx emission reduction within it and less profit loss of the container ship by means of differentiated operation. Meanwhile, the optimal operation speed inside ECAs and RSZs of profit maximization is 10.638 knots, applied to the case study of CSCL Pacific Ocean, the container ship sailing MEX route from Far East (Shanghai, China) to Persian Gulf (Dammam, Saudi Arabia). These findings can provide insights for liner operators in carrying out differentiated operation from the demand side, as well as environmental regulators in adjusting emission reduction regulations dynamically.