IF articles

Summary - The paper approaches freight and passengers fleets, affected by naval gigantism, to investigate its energetic and environmental effects. Among the emerging trends, we encounter the increase of the installed power and, more relevantly, of the transport capacity of the ships. The result is a decrease of the specific power, particularly in the last 20 years. In the same period, an increase of the performances of ships in terms of environmental and energetic sustainability is ongoing. A further acceleration in this direction could come from the introduction of less pollutant fuels and renewable energies. It is a pillar for the development of future sustainable fleets, with relevant emerging investigation needs. In this context, the paper proposes a synthetic approach, combining dimensions and environmental performances of ships, tested on container and cruises fleets in operation in selected worldwide most frequented locations. The results could be useful to check effective policies, basing on emerging technologies and implementation of new rules and regulation.