News / Benefits of slow-steaming on emissions exaggerated, studies find

© Norman Chan |

The emission benefits of slow-steaming may have been “grossly overestimated”, according to studies by Simpson Spence & Young, corroborated by research from Clarksons last week.

Although it has been assumed that ship speed has a cubic relationship with fuel consumption, with consumption increasing exponentially as speed increases, real-world evidence has shown this largely academic assumption does not necessarily pan out in reality.

This threatens to undermine many of the maritime industry’s long-held beliefs, and even brings into question the assumptions underlying the ...