Net-zero GHG emission in shipping networks: Role of alternative fuel bunkering hubs

The study analyzes the role of ports as alternative fuel bunkering hubs in achieving net-zero GHG emissions in container trades. The multi-dimensional analysis provides a realistic assessment that encompasses vessel size, number of vessels, and service frequency in addition to individual vessel movements. The study covers deployed containership capacity across all major trade routes, regions, and vessel classes. Leveraging data-driven intrinsic structures, GMM clustering is used to identify cluster centroids as candidate ports for alternative fuel bunkering. The research shows that a select number of ports can exert considerable impact on decarbonization, particularly on long-haul and inter-region routes. Under the modeled hub-coverage logic, four key bunkering locations can eliminate 77.1% of CO₂ emissions in the life-cycle scenario, rising to 87.3% when additional strategically located ports are included. These results indicate that deep decarbonization in container shipping is likely to be led by a small set of high-leverage hubs on the major east–west corridors. In addition, the dispersed nature of feeder and intra-region trades calls for a more distributed bunkering approach, with electrification as a feasible strategy for emission reduction.