Insights from the industry on whether ships can reach zero-emissions port-stays

The concept of a zero-emissions port-stay is an ambitious goal for the maritime industry. Several promising technologies incur significant costs for the industry and the public sector. In this paper, we present the viewpoint of the industry on technologies that reduce the environmental footprint of vessel port-stay. We survey three stakeholder groups with an interest in low-emissions port-stays: port operators, shipping companies, and providers of technological solutions. A survey instrument was developed that considers the key challenges of reducing emissions during hoteling activities, when ships are at berth. The survey instrument also provided the industry with the opportunity to identify other solutions and key challenges not found in the academic literature. The main findings of this survey allow further comparisons between the challenges faced by each stakeholder. Results from this research highlight additional challenges that, to the authors’ best knowledge, have not been previously acknowledged in literature. The objective of this paper is to provide insight into the challenges of, and barriers to, the development of emissions reduction solutions at the port. We compare our findings to previous understandings of challenges and opportunities based on the academic and technical literature. We conclude with recommendations to improve the uptake of low-emissions technologies targeting vessel port-stays.