Emission Control Areas Regulations Research Articles

Green Vessel Scheduling with Weather Impact and Emission Control Area Consideration

Emissions of maritime transport have been a critical research topic with the substantial growth in the global shipping industry, encompassing both the expansion of the world fleet and the increased distances it has been covering recently. The International Maritime Organization (IMO) has enforced some regulations to mitigate ship Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions, which affect vessels’ operational practice, and further affect service reliability. In this paper, some compliance methods (two-speed strategy, fuel switching, and LNG) against Emission Control Areas (ECAs) at the operational level are examined regarding if and how they impact the liner shipping schedule and service reliability; meanwhile, uncertain weather conditions and port times, as the main uncertain factors, are also involved. Then, a bi-objective fuzzy programming model is formulated and solved by the augmented ε-constraint approach, which generates a set of Pareto solutions by balancing the economic and environmental sustainability. Some findings can be concluded through the experimental results, including that, firstly, to meet uncertain weather conditions at sea requires strong robustness; secondly, ECA regulations can negatively affect the liner shipping service level; moreover, slow steaming is an immediate and effective measure to reduce GHG emissions; and, furthermore, ship routing choice could have a significant influence on ship emissions and service reliability.

Optimization of Liner Operations and Fuel Selection considering Emission Control Areas.

The continuous expansion of shipping trade has brought about increasingly serious marine pollution problems. In the context of emission reduction in the global shipping industry, this paper focuses on the operation optimization of container ships inside and outside the emission control area (ECA). From the dual perspectives of shipowners and the general public, models in the annual operating cycle are established to study the economic and environmental benefit differences between traditional fuels, i.e., heavy fuel oil (HFO) and low-sulfur fuel oil (LSFO), and alternative fuels, i.e., liquefied natural gas (LNG) and methanol. Sensitivity analysis was carried out for the proportion of ECA and ship speed. The results show that, in the current situation of high natural gas prices, the use of HFO after the installation of scrubbers is still the most cost-effective option in the short term, followed by the use of LSFO and methanol. LNG is no longer an attractive option, while LSFO and methanol are the best options for both cost and the environment. With the tightening of ECA regulations, methanol will become the optimal choice when the ECA ratio is higher than 47%. By reducing the speed of the ship, the pollutant emission can be effectively reduced, but it will also lead to an overall decrease in profits. Considering the future "zero carbon" emission targets, slow streaming is only suitable as a short-term response measure, while switching to green power energy is a choice that is more in line with the long-term development strategy.

Effects of IMO sulphur limits on the international shipping company's operations: From a game theory perspective

The International Maritime Organization (IMO) implements sulphur limits to control sulphur dioxides (SO2) emissions. Their measures include global sulphur cap (GSC) and emission control areas (ECA) regulations. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of IMO sulphur limits on vessel speeds, and examine the effectiveness of IMO sulphur limits in cross-linkage of SO2 and CO2 emissions, from a game theory perspective. We propose an integrated game model for multiple shipping companies in which the vessels sail at different speeds inside and outside ECAs. Besides the fuel costs, the cargo’s in-transit inventory cost and fixed cost are considered in the model. The analytical results suggest that the optimal speeds are strongly affected by fuel prices. IMO sulphur limits are not always effective in reducing SO2 and CO2 emissions, which depends on conditions such as the additional operational cost per nautical mile arises from ECA regulations and fuel prices. When fuel prices are sufficiently low or high, CO2 emissions will increase because of the new GSC. In numerical study, three scenarios and sensitivity analysis are examined. It is found that the new GSC and ECA regulations always reduce SO2 emissions. However, CO2 emissions may be increased due to the new GSC.

Modelling the effects of emission control areas on shipping company operations and environmental consequences

In this study, two integrated game models are developed to explore the possible economic and environmental consequences of Emission control areas (ECA) regulations. Moreover, the analytical solutions compared with a benchmark case are derived. We find that vessel speed and SO2 emissions will decrease under the ECA regulations. However, shipping company’s level of competition has no effect on the equivalent speed. The equivalent freight volume to be reduced or increased is determined by the additional operational cost per voyage due to ECA regulations. Numerical study and sensitivity analysis reveal that the vessel speed and SO2 emission reduction are very sensitive to the inventory costs of in-transit cargo. Furthermore, if low-sulphur marine gas oil is used throughout the voyage, the SO2 emission reduction may be greater than 80%, with a low impact on the shipping company’s profit. Thus, considering the environmental effects, much stricter limits can be set in the future.

Green maritime: a routing and speed multi-objective optimization strategy

The purpose of this paper is to develop a ship routing and speed multi-objective optimization model that considers ECA (Emission Control Area) regulations, which can realize the minimization of both shipping costs and emissions. This proposed model can help maritime regulators, such as those who work in maritime departments, to trade-off shipping costs for the minimization of CO2 and SOx emissions by selecting appropriate routes and speeds. The total costs are the sum of the fuel costs, fixed time costs, and cargo inventory costs. The difference between the significance of SOx emissions inside and outside ECAs was considered. The Non-dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm II (NSGAII) was used to obtain the Pareto-optimal set of the multi-objective optimization model and the Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) was used to find the trade-off solution from the Pareto-optimal set. The model was applied for a case study of a service route from Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada to Brunswick, Georgia, United States. Compared to an actual scenario without any optimization, the results show that the model can simultaneously reduce a ship’s total costs and emissions, as well as avoid increase in the total costs that accompany increase in fuel prices. Moreover, the model can provide different optimal routes and speeds for different levels of ship emissions (CO2 and total SOx inside ECAs).

Assessment and improvement of EPA's penalty policy: From the perspective of governments' and ships' behaviors

As a basis and guarantee for the effective enforcement of emission control area regulations, penalty policies play an important role in preventing violations. To more clearly understand the effectiveness of penalty policies, this paper proposes two assessment indicators and assesses Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) penalty policy based on the behaviors of governments and ships. By establishing an evolutionary game model that considers the competitive relationships between ships, we obtain evolutionary stable strategies. Furthermore, we quantitatively assess the effectiveness of EPA's penalty policy for different routes and ship types, and discuss the impacts of accurate penalty fine calculations. Finally, recommendations on penalty policy implications are proposed. The results of this paper show that EPA's penalty policy is less effective overall and that its effectiveness differs for different routes and ship types. Fortunately, the effectiveness of EPA's penalty policy can be improved by accurately calculating penalty fines, and using Automatic Identification System data to pre-identify violations and determine penalty fines is a potential way to improve EPA's penalty policy.

Scheduling decision model of liner shipping considering emission control areas regulations

Several Emission Control Areas (ECAs) have been established to limit sulfur emissions from ships, thus influencing ship voyage planning. In this study, we used a mixed integer nonlinear programming model (MINLP) to reschedule ports-of-call sequences, ship route, speed, and bunkering strategy to minimize total sailing costs, defined as the sum of bunkering costs, time costs, and carbon emissions costs. An improved genetic algorithm, which introduced many strategies (Multi-layer coding strategy, Pre-search and tabu search strategy, Crossover strategy with a correction method, Mutation strategy based on 2-opt method, Elite strategy and Dynamic programming strategy) is designed to solve the proposed model. The proposed model was then applied to ECAs in North America under different fuel prices. The results show that the proposed method can reduce total sailing costs and help shipping companies effectively cope with fuel price fluctuations.

Ship route and speed multi-objective optimization considering weather conditions and emission control area regulations

ABSTRACT The purpose of this paper is to design a route and speed optimization method to simultaneously reduce sailing cost and time, considering Emission Control Areas (ECAs) regulations and weather conditions. To solve it, the Non-dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm (NSGA-II) was used to find the Pareto-optimal set, and the Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) was used to find the trade-off solution from the Pareto-optimal set. The proposed model was then applied to a service route around the US Coast, based on different fuel prices in ECAs. The results show that the proposed method can reduce the total sailing cost and time compared with other methods, and can help shipping companies effectively cope with fuel price fluctuations. Moreover, we also determined the best time interval for changing ship route and speed in terms of minimizing the sailing cost.

An evolutionary game model analysis on emission control areas in China

To improve the atmospheric environment of coastal areas, it is important to coordinate the accomplishment of the Emission Control Areas (ECAs) program development. However, it is difficult to achieve this objective to align the conflict interest between the government and shipping companies. This paper analyzes the differences in the benefits of the two main subjects in the implementation of China's ECA supervision. Then, based on a non-perfect rational hypothesis, this paper constructs an evolutionary game model to analyze and test the dynamic changes of participants' decision-making. Furthermore, we contrast the effects of the interfering elements (e.g., uncooperative penalty, external benefits, the shipping company cost, and third-party report rate) on their decisions under various terms, by applying simulation analysis method. The paper's outcomes demonstrate that, to inspire shipping companies to comply with ECA regulations, the government should apply a strategy, which is following dynamic penalty, to make shipping companies more willing to execute the ECA regulation within less time. Additionally, enhancing the external benefits of cooperative shipping companies and encouraging the participation of third-parties including non-governmental organizations and individuals in monitoring ECAs, are effective ways of stimulating shipping companies to comply with ECA regulations.

The desulphurisation of shipping: Past, present and the future under a global cap

As from January 2020, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) is implementing a global 0.5% limit on the sulphur content of fuel, commonly known as the global sulphur cap. This limit is the latest policy in the efforts to reduce sulphur emissions from shipping, following the designation of emission control areas (ECAs) and other regional regulations. In this paper, a literature review is conducted of academic studies that have dealt with issues relating to the reduction of maritime sulphur emissions. Various recurring research themes are identified, spanning the areas of operations research, maritime economics and transport policy. The effects and implications of available compliance options are then analyzed from the perspectives of ship operators, shippers and consumers. Using lessons learned from the enforcement of ECA regulations, this is followed by an appraisal of various potential issues related to the enforcement of these new global regulations. It is found that a homogeneous enforcement regime is required to ensure a level playing field amongst ship operators and that the global sulphur cap may lead to serious market distortion, due to the potential short term rise of fuel prices. The paper concludes with a set of recommendations for future research on sulphur emissions from shipping in the aftermath of the global cap and, looking forward, to its relationship to the IMO strategy on the reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) shipping emissions.

Method for simultaneously optimizing ship route and speed with emission control areas

THE International Maritime Organization (IMO) has delineated several Emission Control Areas (ECAs), where ships must use more expensive low-sulphur fuel. To minimize total navigation costs, shipping companies should optimize both route and speed for any shipping event. There have been many studies on this topic, which have optimized route and speed separately. These studies can be divided into two categories according to route optimization strategy: cell-based and cell-free. The cell-based approach limits the searching direction, as the cell shapes are fixed; the cell-free approach cannot identify the time points when entering and leaving ECAs. This study proposed an improved cell-based method that considers the ECA regulations and weather conditions to simultaneously optimize the route and speed, which can overcome the shortcomings in cell-based and cell-free approach. Finally, a computational studies and comparative analysis with some other existing methods were performed. The results show that the proposed method can effectively reduce the total costs and the ship emissions within ECAs, but might increase the total emissions of the whole shipping event.

Optimal vessel speed and fleet size for industrial shipping services under the emission control area regulation

This study aims to determine the optimal vessel speed and ship fleet size for an industrial shipping service operating through the emission control areas (ECAs). To comply with the ECA regulation, the industrial shipping service operator can adjust its vessel speeds and fleet size to minimize the annual fleet cost, which includes the total fleet operating cost and in-transit cargo inventory cost. A mixed-integer convex cost-minimization model is developed for the determination of optimal vessel speeds and fleet size, in which the vessel speeds are continuous decision variables and the fleet size is an integer decision variable. The analytical optimal solution of the developed model is identified by relaxing the integer restriction of the fleet size variable. It is shown that how the in-transit cargo inventory cost can play a role in changing the way that the optimal vessel speed is identified. We also demonstrate that the minimal annual fleet cost could be attained by simply comparing two candidate analytical solutions. Numerical studies are carried out to investigate the economic and environmental impacts of the ECA regulation on several representative industrial shipping services. Recommendations are also provided on the proper modeling choice of fleet size in different contexts.

Impact of emission control areas on atmospheric pollutant emissions from major ocean-going ships entering the Shanghai Port, China

Ocean-going ships are mostly driven by high‑sulfur heavy fuel oil, which poses public health and environmental concerns. Emission control areas (ECA) have been developed for the regulatory control of the sulfur content in fuel. We tracked 28 sample vessels that entered and exited Shanghai Port, to understand how air pollutants, including oxysulfides (SOx), nitric oxide (NOx), and particulate matter smaller than 10 μm (PM10), would change under the ECA regulations. Emission reductions vary with the types and sizes of the ships. In our sample pool, oil/chemical tankers and container ships have the highest decline rates of SOx emissions at 26.8%–56.4% and 17.4%–56.6%, respectively. Cruise ships, container ships, and liquefied gas carriers occupy the highest share ratios of pollutant emissions in the sample pool because of the higher average gross tonnage and correspondingly higher-rated power of the ships' main engines. As expected, SOx and PM10 emissions under hoteling conditions (operations while stationary at dock) can be considerably reduced by switching to low-sulfur fuel. Using fuel with the much lower sulfur content of 0.1% m/m in the ECA, the SOx and PM10 emissions of our sample pool could be reduced considerably by up to 94.4% and 78.3%, respectively, compared to the 0.5% m/m sulfur content used during ship hoteling.

Powering newly constructed vessels to comply with ECA regulations under fuel market prices uncertainty: Diesel or dual fuel engine?

Over the last decade, marine engine engineering has evolved considerably, to the point where engine technology can be considered mature and reliable using LNG as fuel without affecting safety at sea. This paper analyses the choice between diesel or dual engines jointly and considers the alternatives of installing or not installing a sulphur scrubber when building a new vessel. The dual engine is more flexible because it can consume liquefied natural gas (LNG) as other marine fuels but the initial investment is more expensive. On the other hand, the use of scrubbers enables the use of marine fuels with high sulphur content in Emission Control Areas (ECAs), these marine fuels are usually cheaper also we consider Selective Catalytic Reduction technology (SCR) in all cases to minimize NOx. The paper calibrates a stochastic model for LNG and determines four marine fuel correlated prices. The work also considers a possible regulatory change from a non ECA to an ECA in the future. When we aggregate the installation costs to the present value of the expected combustible cost under uncertainty we can select the cheapest alternative. We obtain a minimum of expected present value of investment and fuels cost of 25.62 million US$ with a Dual engine with scrubber configuration. Our work shows that, in the cases considered, the use of a dual engine is the best alternative minimizing the total of investment and fuel costs. Finally, we analyse the distribution of fuel cost and its associated risks.

The effects of emission control area regulations on cruise shipping

To control SOx, NOx and particulate matter emission from ships, including cruise ships, emission control areas (ECAs) have been defined by the International Maritime Organization (IMO), which influences cruise planning. This paper investigates a mixed integer programming model to reschedule voyage plans by optimizing speeds, sailing patterns and ports-of-call sequences, hence reducing fuel costs. A tabu search based solution method is developed to solve the model. Computational tests on real-world data of cruise lines are conducted in order to explore the effects of ECA regulations on cruise shipping. The results show that the proposed model can save fuel costs under ECA regulations, and the designed solution method is efficient.

ECA compliance and enforcement – legal regime for ships

This paper addresses the importance of the prevention air pollution from ships in terms of international legal compliance and enforcement. In addition to effectively enforcing international norms, standards and procedures, flag States have an obligation to prevent polluting ships from sailing. The International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL) has been described by the International Maritime Organization as “the most ambitious international treaty covering maritime pollution ever adopted”. Annex VI of the MARPOL allows for the establishment of Emission Control Areas (ECAs). ECAs have been implemented to reduce the amount of air pollution from ships. The new ECA regulations entered into force on the 1st of January 2015. First and foremost, this paper examines some aspects of the implementation of the new ECA regulations on shipping industry and control air emissions in the Baltic Sea ECA. Moreover, it outlines that Port State Control and Flag State Control are commitment to monitor and enforce compliance through inspections and penalties.

Have Emission Control Areas (ECAs) harmed port efficiency in Europe?

Ports in the European Union and North America have enforced environmental regulations on controlling SOx and NOx emissions from ships in their coastal areas known as Emission Control Areas (ECAs). This study uses two-stage approaches to examine whether ECA regulations impact the efficiency of ports operating in such areas. First, port efficiencies are estimated using non-radial slacks-based measure (SBM) Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) models. The efficiency scores estimated by the SBM DEA models are then regressed on explanatory variables, including the ECA factor, and macroeconomic indicators using bootstrapped truncated regression (BTR) models. Panel data is collected on countries in EU ECAs and non-ECAs regarding such input variables as capital and labor, with cargo as an output variable. The results indicate that ECA regulations can harm port efficiency, reflecting concerns of policy-makers and industrial managers: the average efficiency loss from an ECA designation amounts to 0.058–0.066 on a scale of 0–1, accounting for a 15–18% loss from ECA ports’ average efficiency scores.

A Monte Carlo approach to the ship-centric Markov decision process for analyzing decisions over converting a containership to LNG power

A Monte Carlo approach to the ship-centric Markov decision process (SC-MDP) is presented for analyzing whether a container ship should convert to LNG power in the face of evolving Emission Control Area regulations. The SC-MDP model was originally developed as a means to analyze uncertain, sequential decision making problems. However, the original model is limited in its handling of uncertainty by only using discrete probabilistic values to account for the uncertainty. This paper extends the model to include Monte Carlo simulations to gain a deeper understanding of how uncertainty affects decision making behavior. A case study is presented involving the impact of evolving Emission Control Areas on the design and operation of a notional 13,000 TEU container ship. The decision of whether to invest in a dual fuel LNG engine is analyzed given uncertainties in economic parameters, regulatory scenarios, and supply chain risks. The case study is used to show how variations in uncertain parameters can have a drastic effect on optimal decision strategies.

The environmental effects of emission control area regulations on short sea shipping in Northern Europe: The case of container feeder vessels

Through the adoption and development of Annex VI, the International Maritime Organization has followed a stepwise approach to sulfur content reductions in marine fuels. The Annex also implies that vessels operating in the waters of designated Emission Control Areas (ECA) need to comply with stricter limits than the global regulations, dropping as low as 0.1% from 1st January 2015. Shipping companies operating in the North Sea and the Baltic Sea have flagged their concern about short sea shipping’s competitiveness as the tightened restrictions on SOx emissions will force companies to switch to cleaner and more costly fuels, or implement other abatement measures. Hence, European transport policies aimed at transferring more cargo from road to sea might be counteracted by stricter environmental regulations. This paper presents SO2 emission calculations of two container feeder vessels based on comprehensive shipment level data before the implementation of the ECA regulations. A comparative analysis of the environmental footprint of the short sea shipping service with a counterfactual road haulage operation is conducted in a pre- and post ECA regulation setting. This effectively illustrates how empirical data supports the necessity of stricter SOx regulations in order for maritime operations to uphold a green image set up against competing transport modes.

The Impact of Bunker Risk Management on CO2 Emissions in Maritime Transportation Under ECA Regulation

The shipping industry carries over 90% of the world’s trade, and is hence a major contributor to CO2 and other airborne emissions. As a global effort to reduce air pollution from ships, the implementation of the ECA (Emission Control Areas) regulations has given rise to the wide usage of cleaner fuels. This has led to an increased emphasis on the management and risk control of maritime bunker costs for many shipping companies. In this paper, we provide a novel view on the relationship between bunker risk management and CO2 emissions. In particular, we investigate how different actions taken in bunker risk management, based on different risk aversions and fuel hedging strategies, impact a shipping company’s CO2 emissions. We use a stochastic programming model and perform various comparison tests in a case study based on a major liner company. Our results show that a shipping company’s risk attitude on bunker costs has impacts on its CO2 emissions. We also demonstrate that, by properly designing its hedging strategies, a shipping company can sometimes achieve noticeable CO2 reduction with little financial sacrifice.