The link between economy and environment in the post-crisis era: lessons learned from slow steaming

TLDR

The shipping crisis of recent years, marked by low demand, low freight rates, and high bunker prices, prompted widespread slow steaming, which reduces fuel consumption and bunker costs and offers a potential win‑win for economy and emissions. This paper discusses lessons learned from slow steaming, linking economy and environment as a step toward shipping sustainability.

Abstract

The crisis in shipping during the last years was synonymous with low demand for transport, low freight rates and high bunker prices. Sailing at speeds lower than the design speed reduces total fuel consumption resulting in bunker cost savings. Therefore, during the crisis slow steaming has been extensively exercised and some modern vessels were operating at half of their design speed. Given that fuel costs and emissions are directly proportional to one another (both being directly proportional to fuel used), it appears that reducing both could be a straightforward way towards a ‘win-win’ solution. Thus, this paper discusses the lessons learned by slow steaming providing the link between economy and the environment which is fundamental towards sustainability in shipping.