Abstract The pressure on shipping to reduce its carbon footprint is increasing. Various measures are being proposed at the International Maritime Organization (IMO), including Market-Based Measures (MBMs). This paper investigates the potential of a bunker levy in achieving short-term CO2 emissions reductions. The analysis focuses on the tanker market and uses data from the latest IMO GHG studies and a variety of other sources. The connection between fuel prices and freight rates on the one hand and vessel speeds on the other is investigated for the period 2010–2018. A model to find a tanker’s optimal laden and ballast speeds is also developed and applied to a variety of scenarios. Results show that a bunker levy, depending on the scenario, can lead to short-term CO2 emissions reductions of up to 43%. Policy implications are also discussed, particularly vis-à-vis recent IMO and European Union (EU) action on MBMs.

    Highlights Some properties of the tanker speed optimization problem are investigated. We use data from GHG studies and several other sources to compute CO2 emissions. The link between speed and the ratio of spot rate by fuel price is investigated. A bunker levy can reduce CO2 emissions from tankers up to 43% in the short-term. The IMO 50% GHG reduction target is unreachable via slow steaming induced by a levy.


    Access

    Check access

    Check availability in my library

    Order at Subito €


    Export, share and cite



    Title :

    Impacts of a bunker levy on decarbonizing shipping: A tanker case study


    Contributors:


    Publication date :

    2022-03-16




    Type of media :

    Article (Journal)


    Type of material :

    Electronic Resource


    Language :

    English




    Fuel Options for Decarbonizing Shipping

    Bertram, Volker | TIBKAT | 2021




    Smart Sails for Decarbonizing Heavy Shipping

    Paakkari, Ville | TIBKAT | 2024


    Bunker levy schemes for greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction in international shipping

    Kosmas, Vasileios / Acciaro, Michele | FID move | 2017

    Free access