EVALUATING ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS OF A CARGO SHIP BY USING LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT METHOD

Abstract

This paper introduces and applies the life cycle assessment method (LCA) for a cargo ship. The ship’s life cycle is divided in five phases: (i) raw material extraction and fabrication, (ii) shipbuilding, (iii) ship operation, and (iv) ship maintenance and destruction. The application and calculation are based on the instruction in ISO 14040:2006. 12 environmental impacts of CML2001 methodology are used in this paper. The life cycle model and results are built and obtained with the assistance of GaBi software application. The results contain the emissions amount and environmental impacts of the ship’s life cycle and its phases. The LCA method is considered as a tool that could bring a holistic approach in the entire life cycle of a product in terms of the environment.