Economic and Environmental Impact Trade‐Offs Related to In‐Water Hull Cleanings of Merchant Vessels

Abstract

Merchant vessels are equipped with antifouling systems to prevent accumulation of marine organisms on the hull-a phenomenon known as fouling. In many cases, however, fouling accumulates and in-water hull cleaning is required. Hull cleanings are part of a hull management scheme, and although they are an established practice, their associated environmental and economic trade-offs and conflicts have remained largely unexplored. The purpose of this article is to quantitatively assess both economic and environmental impacts of hull management schemes on the operation of tanker vessels. After identifying induced and avoided costs and environmental impacts from the hull management system, we used both temporally and spatially distributed models to capture the degradation of the antifouling system as well as the global sailing profile of the vessels. Last, we analyzed how each of the modeled impacts varied with the frequency of hull cleanings within the hull management scheme. Our analysis revealed a convex relationship between the frequency of hull cleanings and fuel savings. The higher the frequency of hull cleanings, the less fuel savings can be achieved per cleaning. In terms of costs, from some point on the costs of the service are likely to offset the savings-especially if fuel prices are low. In regards to climate change, avoided emissions due to fuel savings are likely to outweigh the limited impacts from the service itself. Last, while ecosystem impacts from marine, terrestrial, and freshwater eco-toxicity are likely to increase from hull cleanings, they are subject to high uncertainties. Keywords:antifouling systems fuel efficiency industrial ecology life cycle management product-service systems shipping Supporting information is linked to this article on the JIE website Conflict of interest statement: The authors have no conflict to declare.

Guidelines for evaluating the environmental performance of Product/Service-Systems through life cycle assessment

“…Two hypothetical cases, a bike sharing system (case 1) and a shared lawnmower PSS (case 2), were formulated in order to exemplify the guidelines' application. These case studies were supplemented with inputs from a case study of a hull cleaning service (case 3) documented in Pagoropoulos et al (2017). Inputs from the experts and the case studies resulted in consolidated improvement opportunities.…”

“…This would influence the guidelines, which should not only deal with the aforementioned challenges, but also encompass existing approaches. (Amaya et al, 2014) Paper mill reconditioning X X LCA* (Lindahl et al, 2014) Clean and dry building exterior X X LCA* (Lindahl et al, 2014) Leasing of a soil compactor X X LCA* (Lindahl et al, 2014) Clothes washing X X LCA (Haapala et al, 2008 (Gottberg et al, 2010) Remanufacturing at Fuji Xerox X X 'First level' LCA* (Kerr and Ryan, 2001) Re-use of temporary buildings X X LCA* (Dreijer et al, 2013) Shared household tools (drills and lawnmowers) X X Simplified LCA (Mont, 2004) Environmental sensor applications X X LCA* (Salazar et al, 2015) Business models for transport by car in Swedish small towns X X LCA* (Nurhadi et al, 2017) Pallet management strategies X X LCA* (Carrano et al, 2015) Servicizing the farminglivestock sector X X The Compound Method Based on Financial Accounts ('MC3')* (Pereira et al, 2016) Water purifiers for home use X X LCA* (Chun and Lee, 2017) Hull cleaning service of merchant vessels X X LCA* (Pagoropoulos et al, 2017) Photocopier in a rental service with reconditioning X X LCA* (Khumboon et al, 2009) Making water tourism more sustainable X X Eco-costs Value Ratio (EVR) model* (LCAbased) (Scheepens et al, 2016) The review shows that studies conducted pre implementation (ex-ante) and post implementation (ex-post) seem equally important for PSS (even distribution). One case is documented both pre and post implementation (Firnkorn et al, (2011); Firnkorn and Müller (2012)).…”

Unintended Circularity?—Assessing a Product-Service System for its Potential Contribution to a Circular Economy

“…Operational Support refers to the providers supporting the operation of the offering, e.g., through performance monitoring or personnel training [2,63,64].…”

Product/Service‐Systems for a Circular Economy: The Route to Decoupling Economic Growth from Resource Consumption?

“… (B); Pagoropoulos et al. (C)) Product maintenance : The PSS provider maintains the product during use, for example, through preventive maintenance, repair, or upgrades. (Bocken et al.…”