With emissions reduction firmly on the industry's agenda, a study is said to show that carrying out ship emission calculations, based on Automatic Identification System (AIS) data, can offer significant benefits.
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Port of Rotterdam vessel traffic planning programme aims to share reliable information, minimize unnecessary delays and reduce shipping emissions. By sharing information between stakeholders, ships are able to plan their journeys more efficiently. For example, if they know exactly when a pilot is available, or when they can access a terminal, this pre-information can be used to optimize traffic flows and reduce unnecessary emissions from so-called 'non-standard behaviour' in the approach area of Rotterdam.
For liner shipping, non-standard behaviour happens when vessels wait to be serviced by a pilot, tugboat or terminal before they enter the actual port area. This behaviour includes drifting, making turning circles, speed changes and anchoring, which is not necessary for the scheduled dispatch of the vessel. It leads to the unnecessary use of
fuel and production of emissions.
Maritime Research Institute Netherlands (MARIN) quantified the potential emissions reduction by minimizing this non-standard behaviour. To determine the potential effects of the vessel planning initiative, MARIN calculated the emissions for each voyage of the inbound liner vessels in the year before the introduction of the programme. The emission calculations followed the method based on AIS data that has been developed for the
Netherlands Pollutant Release & Transfer Register.
The study then focused on determining the standard or expected travelling time of inbound liner ships in the approach area to the port by analysing AIS data. This was done for different vessel sizes and locations.
To estimate the delays incurred when a vessel enters the port approach area, MARIN needed knowledge about the standard travelling times. In its calculations MARIN assumed that the vessel traffic planning programme would remove this 'unnecessary' manoeuvring. Finally, MARIN replaced the emissions of voyages with non-standard behaviour with the emissions of voyages with standard behaviour to calculate the potential emissions reduction. A potential emissions reduction of as much as 3 to 5 percent was feasible, showing how ship emissions calculations - based on AIS data - can help in future policy making.
