Machine Learning for Promoting Environmental Sustainability in Ports

Abstract

Maritime transportation is one of the essential drivers of the global economy as it enables both lower transportation costs and intermodal operations across multiple forms of transportation. Maritime ports are essential interfaces that support cargo handling between sea and hinterland transportation. Besides, in this area, environmental protection is becoming extremely important. Global warming, air pollution, and greenhouse gas emissions are all having a detrimental influence on the environment and will most likely continue to do so for future generations. Hence, there is a growing need to promote environmental sustainability in maritime-based transportation. The application of machine learning (ML), as one of the main subdomains of artificial intelligence (AI), can be considered a component within the process of digital transformation to advance green activities in maritime port logistics. Thus, this article presents the results of a systematic literature review of the recent literature on machine learning for promoting environmentally sustainable maritime ports. It collects and analyses the articles whose contributions lie in the interplay between three main dimensions, i.e., machine learning, port-related operations, and environmental sustainability. Throughout a review protocol, this research is constituted on the major focuses of impact, problems, and techniques to discern the current state of the art as well as research directions. The research findings indicate that the articles using polynomial regression models are dominant in the literature, and the recurrent neural network (RNN) and long short-term memory (LSTM) are the most recent approaches. Moreover, in terms of environmental sustainability, emissions and energy consumption are the most studied problems. mAccording to the research gaps observed in the review, two broad directions for future research are identified: (i) altering attention on a greater diversity of machine learning approaches for promoting environmental sustainability in ports and (ii) leveraging new outlooks to perform more green practical works on port-related operations.

Machine learning for sustainable development: leveraging technology for a greener future

“…Lai et al (2023) focus on the inference of household size distribution and its correlation with the built environment, leveraging extensive mobile phone data for their analysis. Mansoursamaei et al (2023) highlight the growing significance of sustainability in the maritime sector and underscores the necessity for inventive approaches to address environmental impacts of port activities. The study investigates the utilization of ANNs and SVMs to scrutinize extensive data sets and extract valuable insights regarding energy consumption, emissions, waste management and other ecological factors within ports.…”

“…The study investigates the utilization of ANNs and SVMs to scrutinize extensive data sets and extract valuable insights regarding energy consumption, emissions, waste management and other ecological factors within ports. Mansoursamaei et al (2023) recommend predictive models and decision support tools to optimize port operations, minimize environmental hazards and bolster sustainability.…”

Navigating Energy Efficiency: A Multifaceted Interpretability of Fuel Oil Consumption Prediction in Cargo Container Vessel Considering the Operational and Environmental Factors

“…As technology continues to advance and more data becomes available, machine learning, propelled by the advent of extensive datasets and advanced algorithms, has emerged as a transformative force, enabling the extraction of invaluable insights, process automation, and informed decision-making within the maritime sector to support energy efficiency efforts [8]. Maritime experts and scientists explore various approaches to improve transport efficiency on seas around the globe [9], which includes the implementation of machine learning.…”

An insight into the Application of AI in maritime and Logistics toward Sustainable Transportation

“…The marine sector, often called the maritime industry, encompasses all aspects of marine transportation, including shipping, shipbuilding, port operations, and maritime services [20]- [23]. Shipping, in particular, is an essential component of this business since it involves the movement of goods and products using vessels such as ships and boats [24], [25]. The term encompasses various vessels, ranging from container ships and bulk carriers to tankers and specialized boats like ferries and cruise liners, among other vessels.…”