Assessing the emissions of short sea international shipping: a case study of the Mytilini - Ayvalık route

Abstract

Abstract Short sea shipping refers to the transportation of passengers and cargo between ports in Europe or coastal countries bordering Europe on enclosed seas. Aging fleets and environmental concerns pose challenges, but efforts are underway to reduce emissions through the adoption of low-sulfur fuels, hybrid and electric vessels, and improved energy efficiency. This study focuses on the emissions of international short shipping routes from Mytilini to Ayvalik. The study used standardized emission factors to calculate the overall emissions of CO2, SO2, NOx, PM, and HC. The research aims to address a gap in understanding and provide insights into the emissions from these routes. The manuscript aims to identify the main commercial ships on the route, analyze their emissions, and discuss the findings of the analysis. Overall, six ships performed the route with an average fuel consumption of 60 L/hour/100HP depending on factors such as speed and total load. Nitrogen oxides (NOx) emissions are the emissions with the highest amount of production followed by sulphur oxides with values that exceed 12.9 tonnes and 4.5 tonnes respectively. One of the noteworthy findings, and particularly significant in this study, is that although cruising consumes the most energy among the analyzed ships, hoteling also plays a substantial role and should be evaluated in conjunction as a significant source of emissions and energy consumption. The utilization of hydrogen as a fuel has the potential to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions, improve air quality, and mitigate noise pollution.