Prediction of the fuel saving and emissions reduction by decreasing speed of a catamaran

摘要

The maritime environment faces many challenges due to growing amounts of ships1 exhaust gases, especially carbon dioxide which accounts about 3% of global production in addition to the expected increase of marine fuels prices in the coming years. Reducing vessel speed may contribute to overcoming the previous problems. Although speed reduction has been a part of the solution for some vessel types, for example container ships, its applicability for certain ships type, such as high speed crafts, may face some constraints. Based on the results of previously published experiments, regression equations, and data acquired using software packages, this paper analyses the various methods that can be used to estimate the effect of speed reduction strategy on the amount of both consumed fuel and released emissions, in case of high-speed, hard-chine displacement catamarans. As a case study, this concept has been applied on a vessel operating in the Red Sea region to be evidence for applicability and benefits of this approach.