Climate change is among the greatest environmental threats facing the globe today and the abatement of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is concerning all the industrial sectors contributing to the problem. The maritime transport sector has already implemented several measures for energy efficiency for the reduction of its GHG emissions, including both vessels and ports. This paper focuses on the prospects and challenges facing the development of a port energy management system. It analyzes the main factors which exert an impact on such a plan and that need to be taken into account for its successful implementation. A SWOT/PESTLE analysis is utilized for the identification of the political, economic, social, technological, legal and environmental factors that have a positive or negative effect on the adoption and successful implementation of a port energy management system. This analysis is based on empirical data from two leading North-European port authorities. Given the fact that ports are currently focusing on the reduction of their energy consumption, this paper’s results have particular significance in that they could enlighten and inform the adoption of a port energy management plan within ports.

This paper aims to assess the direct economic impact on the maritime sector from its inclusion in the European Union-Emission Trading System (EU-ETS). The Monitoring, Reporting and Verification (MRV) data are analysed for the estimation of carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions within the European Economic Area (EEA). The economic impact assessment model used is scenario-based, and includes different price incentives, geographical coverage and emission allowances allocation methods. According to our findings, in case the emission allowances are fully auctioned or partially free allocated on the basis of a uniform benchmark, the increased costs would be disproportional among the maritime segments. Such a scheme would penalise Roll-on/Roll-off (RoRo) and Roll-On/Roll-Off/Passenger (RoPax) segments due their high fuel consumption per transport work in relation to oil tankers and bulkers. The establishment of differentiated benchmarks per segment seems to be a prerequisite for the effective inclusion of shipping in the EU-ETS that will reward energy efficient vessels in each segment and avoid competition distortion within the maritime industry.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to identify and classify the various initiatives developed and implemented across the globe for the abatement of maritime air emissions. Design/methodology/approach: In this paper, an extensive survey of various sources was conducted, including the official reports of international and regional institutions, government policy documents, port authority websites, classification society pages, private firms’ sites and the academic literature. The initiatives were then categorized in accordance with the classification of the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency and analyzed using the SPSS Statistics software to give some insight into their frequencies and the interrelationships between them. Findings: This exploratory review resulted in the establishment of a comprehensive global database of initiatives encouraged by the whole range of shipping stakeholders and decision-makers for the reduction of shipping air emissions. According to the findings, economic incentives that provide motivation for the adoption of less environmentally damaging practices are the most commonly used initiative, followed by infrastructure investments and informative policies. Research limitations/implications: The results provide implications for further research that include an in-depth analysis of ports’ policies, as well as an evaluation of initiatives applied on a large scale to map their emissions reduction potential for shipping. Originality/value: The main contribution of this paper is the identification and analysis of all the diverse initiatives implemented globally in a comprehensive way and its dealing with air pollution from shipping as a whole.

The aim of this paper is to analyse shipping firms’ reactions to environmental challenges and identify how significant reductions in energy consumption and air emissions can come about by implementing a variety of voluntary initiatives. The paper focuses on the various sustainability initiatives implemented by the Swedish short sea shipping operator, Stena Line, either on a purely voluntary basis as part of their corporate social responsibility (CSR) strategy or as their chosen route for compliance with regulations. A conceptual model is developed based on stakeholder theory, the theory of planned behaviour and resource dependence theory to understand the main drivers of the firm’s adoption of sustainability initiatives and the factors affecting the integration of CSR in maritime companies. According to our findings, the company operates within a strongly enforced regulatory environmental framework and needs to exceed this framework to differentiate its service and strengthen its relationships with its customers by addressing their social and environmental concerns. As the firm’s competitive strategy focuses on service differentiation, a large pool of complementary resources is available for CSR and the implementation of sustainability practices. The results of this paper bring new insights to the potential of local private voluntary initiatives for the reduction of maritime air emissions. These include the provision of onshore power supply, the conversion of vessels to use methanol, ferry electrification, the construction of larger RoPax vessels and the implementation of an energy-saving program that focuses on crew involvement and continuous training. The environmental outcomes derived from a combination of local operational and technical energy efficiency measures are found to be significant and can contribute to the efforts for the achievement of sustainable maritime transport undertaken by international and regional organisations. The main barriers for the adoption of voluntary sustainability initiatives in the maritime sector are economic and technological. To encourage the wider adoption of these initiatives, the provision of economic incentives at national or regional level is crucial, as such initiatives usually imply high initial installation costs that should be somehow compensated for both vessels and terminals.

Roll on–roll off (RoRo) shipping represents a maritime segment that could easily form part of an intermodal transport system, as cargo does not need to be lifted in ports; it is ‘rolled’ to and from sea. This paper investigates the operation of RoRo shipping services in Northern Europe, focusing on a set of services chartered by a major shipper whose demand has a great impact on the service design, potentially affecting the frequency of departures and even stipulating the use of specific vessels. The case of cooperation between Stora Enso, a major forest company in Sweden and Finland, and the shipping company Swedish Orient Line (SOL) is analysed, giving some insight into the way these RoRo services operate and manage to integrate successfully into sustainable intermodal transport chains. Despite various initiatives taken by different stakeholders, the level of integration of shipping in intermodal transport chains has been quite slow. This paper’s results could contribute to the identification of barriers that prevent RoRo shipping from being a viable alternative to road transport for certain transport routes and assist in the discovery of policies and incentives that could lead to developing sustainable intermodal transport chains.