LNG-fueled container ship sailing on the Northern Sea Route: economic and emission evaluation

Global warming allows the Northern Sea Route (NSR) to be used as a potential alternative for Asia–Europe shipping. As a clean fuel, liquid natural gas (LNG) has been increasingly used as a marine fuel. This study aims to analyse the economic feasibility and CO2 emission reduction of using LNG-fuelled container ships to sail through the NSR, under the assumption that Sabetta will be developed into an LNG refuelling centre. We establish a shipping profit model and a CO2 emission model and then apply real data to them. Several scenarios are proposed to reflect the different circumstances in practice. We find that a shorter round-trip transit time and appropriate ship size are the most favourable factors for the proposed option. Although data suggests that it is often economically infeasible to deploy LNG-fuelled ships via the NSR, under certain circumstances where it is indeed cost-effective, considerable CO2 emission reduction can be achieved.