Integrating weather-informed routing and energy optimization for sustainable maritime transportation

With the expansion of industries and the increasing fuel consumption associated with international transportation, the efficient utilization of vehicles, particularly cargo ships, has become critically important. While numerous solutions have been proposed to address this issue, many are hindered by limitations such as inaccurate or incomplete models. This study employs a semi-empirical model to precisely estimate ship resistance to waves and other environmental factors. Subsequently, route optimization is conducted using a nonlinear surrogate model, focusing on ports designated for cargo delivery. In the second phase, the Vessel Routing Problem (VPR) for ships is addressed by incorporating factors such as refueling operations, time windows, and the allocation of 1 to 3 ships to a single origin and five destinations. This problem aims to design optimal routes to minimize operational costs, travel time, and emissions, while adhering to practical constraints such as fuel capacity and port scheduling. The findings demonstrate that route optimization can achieve a reduction of more than 7 % on average in fuel consumption, travel distance, and journey time. Additionally, the analysis of various cargo delivery scenarios indicates that deploying a single ship for a limited number of destinations is more efficient compared to utilizing multiple ships. However, it is anticipated that increasing the number of ships relative to a limited number of destinations could yield exceptional outcomes.