AIS-Based Analysis of Passenger Vessel Traffic and Emissions in Coastal Norway

Abstract

Background: Cruise and passenger vessel traffic is an important component of coastal transportation, but increasing activity can intensify logistical complexity, traffic interactions, and environmental pressure. Understanding vessel behavior across ports and sailing corridors is therefore necessary to support safer and more efficient transport planning. Methods: A reproducible AIS-based framework is proposed to integrate port- and route-level analysis. Port calls are detected using predefined port geofences and minimum dwell time criteria; operational states are classified from vessel location and speed; AIS-valid study-network voyages are reconstructed between consecutive qualifying calls; and modeled CO2 is estimated separately for hoteling and transit using representative engine power assumptions and speed-dependent load factors. The framework is applied to 2023–2024 AIS data from ten Norwegian ports. Results: The analysis identified 5546 port calls and 3323 AIS-valid voyages in 2023 and 5768 calls and 3794 voyages in 2024. Modeled hoteling CO2 decreased from 124,350 to 114,406 tons, while modeled transit CO2 increased from 1.027 to 1.076 million tons; transit CO2 per voyage decreased from 309.1 to 283.7 tons. Conclusions: Traffic frequency alone does not determine modeled emissions; integrated AIS analysis can support differentiated port- and corridor-level transportation planning and emissions mitigation.