Speed reduction: a strategy for sustainable ship operations

ABSTRACT

The selection of steaming speed is one of the main strategic decisions for ship operators under highly uncertain conditions. Speed reductions are of great benefit to the economy and environment in shipping operations. Since the inappropriate choice of steaming speed levels brought about a substantial financial and environmental impact on organisations, it is crucial to make precise decisions in the implementation of different levels of steaming speed. However, given its significance, the right pace of steaming for ship tankers benefiting the economy and the environment is still under investigation. Therefore, this study is undertaken to determine the most suitable steaming speed for chemical tankers under unpredictable operating conditions. To address this issue, an evaluation model based on the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and the Technique for Order Performance by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) is developed. The result indicates that extra slow steaming is the most acceptable steaming speed employing an integrated approach. This study envisages that the steaming speed of a ship can be considered as one of the strategies for a shipping company to reap financial and environmental benefits.

KEYWORDS:

• Uncertainty
• tanker shipping industry
• speed reduction
• sustainability management
• decision-making

Acknowledgement

An appreciation is given to Faculty of Maritime Studies, Universiti Malaysia Terengganu (UMT) for all the facilities provided throughout this study.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Rudiah Md Hanafiah

Rudiah Md Hanafiah, before joining Universiti Malaysia Terengganu as a Senior Lecturer at the Faculty of Maritime Studies, she has been working as an operation and chartering executive at various shipping companies associated with transporting petrochemical products over the world. Completed her PhD degree in Transport and Logistics from Malaysia Institute of Transport, Universiti Teknologi Mara in 2017 under the LT990 program. Her research interests focus on the shipping business and maritime operation, maritime supply chain and halal transportation.

Masha Menhat

Masha Menhat is a senior lecturer in Universiti of Malaysia Terengganu. She graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering from Universiti Malaysia Pahang in the year 2009 and holds a Master’s Degree in Engineering Management from Universiti Putra Malaysia. After graduated, she spent around five years working on local and international projects in the oil and gas industry. Her task was to look after contracts on logistic management for offshore transportation, installation, hook-up and commissioning phase. In 2018, she obtained a Ph.D. from University of Central Lancashire, Preston, UK with a thesis entitled Performance Measurement Framework for the Oil and Gas Supply Chain. Her research interests are on oil and gas industry, project management, offshore vessels network and supply chain management.

Jagan Jeevan

Jagan Jeevan’s research interests focus on the dynamism of seaport system, logistics and the intermodal interface between seaports and the hinterlands, dry ports development and management, seaport competitiveness and intermodal terminals development strategies. Outcomes of his research are continually published in national and international conferences, high ranking journals and book chapters. Further, Jagan has given many academic talks as an invited speaker in international and national maritime-based institutions and universities. Other research interests that he has explored recently were on green ports, humanitarian logistics, seaport co-opetition, evaluation of seaports lifecycle, dry port marketing, vessel enlargement and the impact on seaport competitiveness, LARG, women in logistics, seaport quality and hinterland classification.

Nurul Haqimin Mohd Salleh

Nurul Haqimin Mohd Salleh received the PhD degree in Maritime Operation at the Liverpool John Moores University, UK, in 2015. In recent years, he has focused on better techniques for modelling and assessing country risk for shipping operation, organizational reliability and capability of a liner shipping operator. He also developed new models for predicting a liner vessel’s punctuality (arrival and departure) under dynamic environments.

Abdul Hafaz Ngah

Abdul Hafaz Ngah is currently a Senior Lecturer at the Faculty of Business, Economy and Social Development, University of Malaysia Terengganu. He received his PhD in Technology Management (Halal supply chain) from Universiti Malaysia Pahang. His research interests are in technology management, Halal logistics and supply chain, Halal food, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics and in tourism management.