Advantages and disadvantages from enforcing emission restrictions within emission control areas
Authors: Dulebenets Maxim A. 
Published: December 2016

Purpose

Emissions produced by oceangoing vessels not only negatively affect the environment but also may deteriorate health of living organisms. Several regulations were released by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) to alleviate negative externalities from maritime transportation. Certain polluted areas were designated as “Emission Control Areas” (ECAs). However, IMO did not enforce any restrictions on the actual quantity of emissions that could be produced within ECAs. This paper aims to perform a comprehensive assessment of advantages and disadvantages from introducing restrictions on the emissions produced within ECAs. Two mixed-integer non-linear mathematical programs are presented to model the existing IMO regulations and an alternative policy, which along with the established IMO requirements also enforces restrictions on the quantity of emissions produced within ECAs. A set of linearization techniques are applied to linearize both models, which are further solved using the dynamic secant approximation procedure. Numerical experiments demonstrate that introduction of emission restrictions within ECAs can significantly reduce pollution levels but may incur increasing route service cost for the liner shipping company.

Design/methodology/approach

Two mixed-integer non-linear mathematical programs are presented to model the existing IMO regulations and an alternative policy, which along with the established IMO requirements also enforces restrictions on the quantity of emissions produced within ECAs. A set of linearization techniques are applied to linearize both models, which are further solved using the dynamic secant approximation procedure.

Findings

Numerical experiments were conducted for the French Asia Line 3 route, served by CMA CGM liner shipping company and passing through ECAs with sulfur oxide control. It was found that introduction of emission restrictions reduced the quantity of sulfur dioxide emissions produced by 40.4 per cent. In the meantime, emission restrictions required the liner shipping company to decrease the vessel sailing speed not only at voyage legs within ECAs but also at the adjacent voyage legs, which increased the total vessel turnaround time and in turn increased the total route service cost by 7.8 per cent.

Research limitations/implications

This study does not capture uncertainty in liner shipping operations.

Practical implications

The developed mathematical model can serve as an efficient practical tool for liner shipping companies in developing green vessel schedules, enhancing energy efficiency and improving environmental sustainability.

Originality/value

Researchers and practitioners seek for new mathematical models and environmental policies that may alleviate pollution from oceangoing vessels and improve energy efficiency. This study proposes two novel mathematical models for the green vessel scheduling problem in a liner shipping route with ECAs. The first model is based on the existing IMO regulations, whereas the second one along with the established IMO requirements enforces emission restrictions within ECAs. Extensive numerical experiments are performed to assess advantages and disadvantages from introducing emission restrictions within ECAs.