Analysis of the Incentive for Slow Steaming in Chinese Sulfur Emission Control Areas

Abstract

The increasing concerns caused by marine environmental issues have aroused attention from international agencies and regional governments about the regulation of the amount of ship emissions. There are various measures and regulations to control shipping emissions, among which emission control areas (ECAs) have been recognized as an effective tool to restrict shipping emissions along coastlines. Realizing the serious damage caused by shipping emissions, the Chinese Ministry of Transport announced the establishment of sulfur emission control areas (SECAs) in 2015. However, the low SECA standards have aroused public concern about their effectiveness. This study analyzes the incentives for slow steaming in Chinese SECAs based on the existing research models of speed. A specific route from Shanghai to Los Angeles is chosen and the ship speeds inside and outside the SECA are simulated by minimizing the shipping company’s operating costs. By analyzing the simulated results and comparing different scenarios, it has been found that the current range of SECAs in China cannot induce speed differentiation behaviors. At the same time, a ratio of more than 7% (the ratio of SECA distance to the total round-trip distance) is proposed as effective for designing the SECA boundary. This study provides various guidelines on the designation of SECAs for international and regional marine policies.