The Challenges of Switching ‘Sail-Fast-then-Wait’ to ‘Sail-Slow-and-Save’ in the Decarbonization of Voyage-chartered Bulk Shipping

Abstract The past two years have seen an important momentum in the decarbonization of international shipping, a major single contributor to climate change. The International Maritime Organization has adopted its revised ghg Strategy which strives to bring the emissions of this industry to net zero by 2050. The decarbonization will be a gradual process via the adoption of new fuels and a set of efficiency-improving measures. This article addresses a particular efficiency-improving measure: just-in-time ( jit ) arrival. This practice seeks to slow ships down at sea and thereby cut their emissions when it is known that they would arrive at a port only to queue. While it sounds simple, several practical, commercial, and legal challenges have to be solved before this practice can become common, especially in the voyage-chartered bulk shipping sector. This article seeks to highlight these issues with particular regard to the due dispatch obligation, laytime and demurrage, laycan clauses, and the role of policy in encouraging jit arrivals.