Current Status and Perspectives of Eco-friendly Electric Ships

Abstract

Recently, there has been an increasing national interest in air pollutants including fine dust due to worsening air quality. As more people become interested in the environment, policies that consider the environment are being implemented in various fields as regulations also change. It can be seen that regulations are being strengthened as the MARPOL standards for air pollutants such as sulfur oxides, nitrogen oxides, carbon dioxide, EEDI are being lowered. According to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, 80% of goods trade is transported by ships and the amount of air pollutants emitted by ships cannot be overlooked. Therefore, there is a growing need to transition from traditional fossil fuel-powered mechanical ships to eco-friendly ships. In this review, we analyze one type of eco-friendly ship, the electric ship. We compare the economic viability of electric ships with traditional mechanical ships and investigate the current status and commercialization cases of electric ships. We also provide insights into the future prospects of electric ships.