Managing a sustainable transition in the shipping industry

Abstract

The shipping industry is of high strategic importance for the world's supply chains and the industry is essential for global trades to be efficient and economically beneficial. On the other hand, the industry is also a major cause of global warming. The volume of freight transports has increased globally, and this is a continuous trend, which also increases the environmental impact of shipping. To counteract this trend there are actors such as the International Maritime Organization (IMO) but also other external actors such as banks and regional regulators that set up goals and regulations in order to reduce emissions. To achieve these goals or cope with the requirements companies need to act and reduce their environmental impact. This could be done either by discovering alternative means of propulsion or being more operationally efficient by for example implementing new technology or innovation. This thesis therefore aims to provide an overview of alternative propulsion, strategic and operational decisions, and new technology by mapping, evaluating, and comparing these technologies and strategies for industry actors to be able to follow the increased requirements. Both the environmental and the economical perspective is discussed. The thesis is conducted via a literature study where relevant literature was examined, providing an overview over what strategies and propulsion alternatives that exist. These were then evaluated and compared between the existing options from a technological, economic, and environmental perspective. Complementary to the literature study, an interview study was conducted. It consists of six interviews with 3 different types of actors, three shipping companies, two marine technology companies and one professor in Mechanics and Maritime Sciences. The approaches for companies to reduce their emissions that are discussed are biofuels, hydrogen, ammonia and methanol, marine gas oil (MGO) and liquified natural gas (LNG), wind assisted ship propulsion (WASP), battery-electric, leadership, shipowner strategies, innovation strategy, dual fuel engines, interfirm collaboration, industry 4.0 and big data analytics, autonomous shipping and improved information and communication systems. The thesis shows that it is highly uncertain which propulsion alternatives will be dominant in the future. All the investigated alternatives share uncertainties and have different strengths and weaknesses making this specific question very complex. To be flexible and ready when the technology is mature enough it is important to prepare for the future. In the short term it is of more importance focusing on efficiency improvements both organisationally and with new technology in order to reduce emissions. The suggestion for companies is therefore focusing mainly on efficiency improvements in the short term while in the long term focusing on the combination of efficiency improvements and alternative propulsion.