Sustainability of motorways of the sea and fast ships

Abstract

The European transport policy undertakes to enhance sustainability in transport in order to boost economic activities in the whole EU. The reduction of pollutant emissions and a better balance among modes of transportation to cut road congestion are the pillars of the above policy. These factors are encouraging public and private stakeholders to use the freight maritime alternative more extensively. Short sea shipping is considered the quickest way to reach sustainability. Another advantage of ships over trucks and trains is that vessels consume less fuel as a result of the relatively low speeds at which they travel. However, increasingly faster ships are in a position to compete with trucks, but the former’s greater power demand and consumption rate result in higher pollutant emission levels which, in turn, lead to the loss of their environmental advantage over road transport. This problem is analyzed below.