Carbon emissions statistical analysis for container shipping in the Black Sea

Abstract

This work analyses the operational characteristics, including the fuel consumption and carbon emissions of self-reported data of container vessels performing regular short sea voyages in the Black Sea. The data are extracted from the EMSA THETIS-MRV database covering the period of 2018–2021. The main particulars of container ships that visited six Black Sea ports were collected from the Marine Traffic platform and Equasis database. Several conclusions about the status of carbon emissions from container shipping in the Black Sea are presented, which may support the short shipping companies in developing measures to incentivise decarbonisation in the region. It has been identified that the correlation between ship deadweight and total fuel consumption and CO₂ emissions is weaker than the correlation between distance travelled and transport work. The decrease in CO₂ emissions in 2021 can be attributed to reduced ship activity and emission-reduction measures. The ratios of CO₂-related indicators to ship deadweight are more diminutive, showing a lack of correlation. An approach based on the confidence ellipses is employed in performing an innovative analysis of the CO₂ emissions over the years for container ships operating in the Black Sea. This is important due to the new requests for using EEXI and CII.