A swift turnaround? Abating shipping greenhouse gas emissions via port call optimization

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A swift turnaround? Abating shipping greenhouse gas emissions via port call optimization

Poulsen, René Taudal / Sampson, Helen

Highlights • We explore the potential for GHG abatement via reduced turn-around-time in port. • We document why waiting time occurs for ships in association with port calls. • We show how port stakeholders limit crews’ and shipping companies’ room for maneuver. • We provide evidence that port officials often cause crew stress and delay. • We recommend IMO to facilitate port stakeholders’ sharing of real-time traffic data.

Abstract Waiting times for trucks, trains, airplanes and ships in service represent apparent transport system inefficiencies, and measures to reduce these may have the potential to abate transport GHG emissions. In international shipping, transportation researchers have pointed out that reduced waiting time in association with port calls holds such promise. We explore the potential for GHG abatement through port call optimization, focusing on crews and their employers - the shipping companies. Adding new empirical evidence to the transportation literature, we confirm the existence of idle time during port calls, and go beyond this in describing the causes for it. We show how several port stakeholders, including government officials, limit the crews’ and shipping companies’ room for maneuver in relation to port calls. We also show why the process of reducing waiting time in shipping is more complex than that for onshore transport modes, where real-time traffic information guides drivers’ route choices, and reduces congestion and waiting time. Our findings have implications for both policy makers and transportation research.