Analysis of effectiveness for cargo operation productivity considering environmental efficiency on container ports in the Northeast Asian region

Abstract

The Northeast Asia container port system has experienced a significant increase in ship calls and container throughput, resulting in a detrimental impact on the environment surrounding the port area. This is primarily caused by emissions from the hotelling phase, which is closely associated with cargo operations at the berths. This study aims to investigate ship emissions during the hotelling phase and evaluate the impact of cargo operation productivity on environmental performance. To achieve this goal, the study used a bottom-up approach to calculate the ship's emissions at the berth based on various factors such as the number of ship calls, the power of the auxiliary engines, the load factor, the emissions factor, and in-port hotelling duration of the top 20 major container ports in the region from 2017 to 2021. The outcomes revealed that the major container ports in the Northeast Asian region, including Shanghai, Ningbo, Shenzhen, Hongkong, and Busan, are emitting an enormous volume of pollutants, primarily due to the high density of ships and continuous loading and unloading operations, causing severe air pollution. The study found that improving loading/unloading productivity is an effective measure to improve the environmental quality of the port area. Furthermore, the study also revealed that handling larger ships could reduce emissions per TEU.