A digital twin framework for real-time ship routing considering decarbonization regulatory compliance

International Marine Organization is promoting stricter carbon emission reduction targets, and the influx of environmental regulations presents compliance risks for maritime sector. Stakeholders need to take decarbonization performance indicators into account in ship routing to maintain regulatory compliance. To meet decarbonization goals, a decision support method related to environmental regulatory compliance is necessary for voyage optimization. To this end, this paper presents a digital twin-enabled framework for real-time decarbonization regulatory compliance prognosis in ship routing. The proposed framework tracks real-time carbon intensity and identifies opportunities for reducing operational risks associated with decarbonization goals. The digital twin approach leverage real-time environmental and operational data for improved estimation of vessel-specific regulatory compliance probability along the voyage. An improved dynamic programming algorithm is used for ship routing. The presented framework is versatile in dealing with various decarbonization regulations to provide routing decision support. An illustrated case of a container ship sailing across the South China sea is presented to demonstrate the applicability of the framework.