Compliant strategy for shipowners: A decision framework for air emission reduction measures

The main aim of the paper is to develop a decision framework for ship owners to comply with the emission reduction regulations. Various measures available to ship owners will be analysed. This paper will discuss the need of Carbon Tax or Market Based Measures in the maritime market. A comparison between the market-based measures, operational measures, carbon tax and abatement measures for averting air emissions of carbon equivalent will be made. An overview of air emissions caused by the shipping sector will be given along with the methods to keep records of air emissions. There are no uniform standardised methods available for keeping the records of air pollution. A brief description is done on the need and methodology for inventory management of air emissions. Emission scenarios are collated and evaluated to know how much shipping contribute to future climate change. A case study on the compliance cost of complying with the regulations for M.V. Stena Germanica will be demonstrated. The environmental and economic benefit will be evaluated to find the feasibility of the project. The externality will be assessed for the case study before and after fuel switching of Methanol. A cost-benefit analysis will be done with regards to decision making for ship owners. In conclusion, a holistic view of the decision framework for the ship owners is given. The case study will prove that in the long term by complying with abatement measures or alternative fuel ship owners will avoid carbon tax and will have social and financial benefits