In this study, we investigate the impact on shipping emissions from improving operational efficiency in a maritime chokepoint such as a canal. We consider several scheduling proposals that allow for different levels of speed reduction for incoming vessels and estimate the resulting emission reduction compared to a benchmark established from ship position data. For our case study of the Panama Canal, we estimate that the canal could have removed up to 1.8 million tonnes of CO₂e per year for the period of 2019 to 2021. Our findings suggest that emission reduction can be easier to obtain at intermediate points as many of the contractual barriers to improving operational efficiency do not apply.

在这项研究中，我们调查了提高运河等海上阻塞点的运营效率对航运排放的影响。我们考虑了几种允许进港船舶不同程度减速的调度方案，并与根据船舶位置数据建立的基准相比，估算了由此产生的减排量。对于我们的巴拿马运河案例研究，我们估计该运河在 2019 年至 2021 年期间每年可去除多达 180 万吨 CO ₂ e。我们的研究结果表明，在中间点更容易实现减排因为许多提高运营效率的合同障碍并不适用。