Towards sustainable energy selection for ships in response to maritime regulation

Ship owners and operators are continuously seeking financially viable ways to comply with the Sulphur emission limits set out by the IMO, which calls for a reduction of sulphur content in ship fuel to less than 0.5% in 2020. The prudent decision in managing required energy sources by shipowners/operators will lead to an efficient ship operating decision, subsequently resulting in long-term financial return. The study aims to identify the factors influencing ship owners and operators to select the energy types in operating their vessels. Furthermore, the research explores the most desired energy sources to address the IMO Sulphur Cap Regulations 2020. One operation research method, namely the Preference Ranking Organization Method for Enrichment Evaluation (PROMETHEE), and one econometrics tool, namely the conditional logit model, have been used to explore the research objectives. The PROMETHEE analysis suggests that clean fuel (VLSFO) is the best alternative to respond IMO 2020, followed by scrubber installation. The conditional logit analysis suggests almost the same, indicating clean fuel as the only alternative for responding to regulation. The decision is driven by the vessel's age negatively and the size of the vessel positively. The study will enormously impact the ship's energy procurement practices in Bangladesh.