Green shipping: using AIS data to assess global emissions

Globalization and new environmental legislations lead to a rising need for new technological developments for the shipping industry, especially creating smart ports, smart waterways and smart ships. However, since these developments are on the horizon and thus not currently not state of the art, emphasis is on reducing emissions from shipping. To reduce the amount of CO2 emitted by the maritime transport sector, the European Parliament introduced a regulation, which came into force in 2018, establishing a CO2 emission Monitoring, Reporting, and Verification System. In order to measure and assess global ship emissions, an estimation model will be developed. Using AIS and environmental data, ship’s resistance through water will be modelled. Based on the main engine used, the presumed fuel consumption of a voyage and thus the emissions can be indicated and hourly energy requirements for each ship worldwide quantified. Based on the knowledge gained from historical evaluations, a target / actual comparison enables the evaluation of the performance of a ship and thus the identification of emission reduction potentials.