Developing sustainable shipping and maritime transport: Multi-criteria analysis between emission abatement methods

Annual emissions from maritime transport are contributing to the acceleration of global climate change and deteriorating local air quality. Shipowners need information on current and new emission reduction solutions to compare cost-effectiveness and environmental impact. However, emissions reduction in the maritime sector is a complex issue that should also consider the environmental impacts during fuel production as well as the full impact of different options during use. In this study, different fuel options and emission reduction methods are compared to rank the overall sustainability of alternatives. The overall sustainability assessment is based on the economic and environmental indexes generated, weighted, and aggregated. The results show that the sustainability index of LNG is often the best of the options compared. The difference in fuel prices determines much of the difference in economic performance between fuels. The results emphasize the importance of including several criteria when comparing more sustainable alternatives in shipping.