Leveraging Artificial Intelligence for Enhanced Operational Efficiency: A Study on Speed Reduction’s Impact on Merchant Vessel Performance

This study aims to assess the economic implications of super-slow steaming on the operational performance of merchant vessels. Super-slow steaming is an area with limited prior research, and our approach leverages Artificial Intelligence (AI) to delve into key aspects of overall ship efficiency, specifically focusing on speed reduction and optimization. Our research collected data from the logbooks of 20 selected merchant vessels, harnessing AI to gather a total of 2226 data points concerning various study variables. The study’s findings offer valuable insights for shippers seeking to optimize fuel consumption, enhance overall vessel performance and efficiency. Furthermore, the research sheds light on the distinctions between slow steaming and super-slow steaming, along with their implications for environmental and economic factors. It’s important to note that this study has a geographical scope limited to a specific international route and a specific type of merchant vessel. The study ultimately concludes that strategic speed reduction has a positive impact on the total fuel consumption, cost-effectiveness, and operating efficiency of merchant vessels.