Abstract
Operational cycles for maritime transportation is a new concept to improve the assessment of ships’ energy efficiency and offer benchmarking options among similar ship types and sizes. This work extends previous research to consolidate the methodology, bring more comprehensiveness, and provide a more holistic assessment of these operational cycles. The cycles are designed from noon reports from a fleet of around 300 container ships divided into eight size groups. The comparison between cycles derived from speed and draft with those based on main engine power identifies that the cycles based on speed and draft are more accurate and allow for estimating the Energy Efficiency Operational Index but require more data. The main-engine-power cycles are more effective in benchmarking through the Annual Efficiency Ratio. These cycles reduce the inherent variability of the carbon intensity indicator and present good opportunities as a benchmarking tool for strengthening the regulatory framework of international shipping.