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Slow steaming has been implemented by the main liner shipping companies since 2008. The reduction in vessel speed affects fuel consumption and should be reflected within the fuel surcharges paid by shippers. The purpose of this paper is to assess if this was the case for the main outbound European container trades from the port of Antwerp.

Through an extensive analysis of liner service characteristics, fuel costs and fuel surcharges this paper provides an answer to three research questions: how significant are slow steaming practices in container liner shipping?; what is the impact of slow steaming on fuel consumption and liner service characteristics?; and to what extent has slow steaming changed the relation between fuel costs and fuel surcharges imposed on shippers by shipping lines?

It is found that slow steaming practices are not implemented on all trade routes, but depend on operational aspects such as distances covered and the characteristics of the ships deployed. While it could be expected that the reduction in vessel speed should be reflected within the fuel surcharges paid by shippers, the empirical results show that on most trade routes slow steaming did not fundamentally change the relation between fuel costs and fuel surcharges imposed on shippers by shipping lines.

The paper has practical relevance to actors active in global ocean freight logistics, particularly since its results can be used as input for ongoing debates between shipping lines and shippers on pricing and surcharges in container shipping.

This paper is the first extensive study that makes an explicit link between slow steaming practices and fuel surcharge policies of shipping lines. A method was developed to estimate fuel consumption levels of ships at various speeds and to link the associated fuel costs to real‐life bunker surcharges imposed on shippers by shipping lines.

This study classifies and estimates safety costs in Arctic shipping.

Based on the literature review, the paper details shipping prevention costs into five categories (infrastructure and facilities, measures, technologies, personnel and management) and groups marine accidents into injury and death, property damage, environmental damage and others.

The proposed classification and estimation allow for a comparison of prevention costs and accident expenses. Estimating safety expenses in the Arctic presents challenges, such as data inadequacies. However, the method has been tested with data provided by an Arctic ship operator.

Thus, shipping companies can verify the effectiveness of their investments and reorientate whenever necessary, becoming a decision-support system to best allocate safety investments. Combined with company safety performance, the tool can help identify the safety areas requiring enhanced attention.

This paper presents the first classification and a tool to assess safety costs in relation to Arctic shipping, potentially supporting safety investment decisions.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the profitability of the Northern Sea Route (NSR) as a shipping lane from the financial perspective of shipping companies under post 2020 sulphur regulations.

This study develops profit estimation model, and the profitability of the NSR is assessed for a Handymax Medium Range (MR) tanker vessel using scenarios in combination with spot market earning levels, the regulation compliance method and destination ports. The required freight rates are calculated to justify the decision of shipowners to transit a tanker from the Baltic spot market to the NSR navigation.

Results suggest that the required freight rates from the Arctic trade to justify the transit to the NSR are higher than the actual agreed rates in the past, which implies low viability of the NSR as a regular shipping lane. It was also found that the required freight rates are affected by the spot market earning levels, compliance method and duration of the voyage.

This study takes a new approach on assessing the NSR viability by comprehensively assessing the annual profitability and including the spot market trade as an opportunity cost for the NSR shipping. Despite various scenarios used in this study, a sensitivity analysis would be useful for future research.

This study suggests how much freight rates a shipping company would need to charge if it were to offer tanker shipping services to four major Asian ports while simultaneously operating at the Baltic Sea during the remainder of the year.

This study adopts a market-oriented approach by incorporating both earnings and costs (including opportunity costs) in the profitability model rather than merely analyzing the total cost of shipping via the NSR. This study also analyzes impact of IMO 2020 Sulphur regulation on the NSR profitability.