Vessel LCA: What It Is and What Can You Use It For?

Context

The maritime industry is under pressure to decarbonize, not just at sea, but across the full lifecycle of a vessel.

A Vessel LCA measures the environmental impact of a ship from cradle to grave including materials, construction, use, maintenance, and eventual scrapping or recycling. It provides a data-driven foundation for improving design, procurement, and sustainability reporting.

What Is a Vessel LCA?

A Life Cycle Assessment is a structured method for quantifying environmental impacts, including carbon emissions across all stages of a product or system’s life.

In maritime, that means analyzing:

• Raw material extraction (e.g., steel, aluminum, composites)
• Shipbuilding process (energy, welding, coatings, outfitting)
• Operational use phase (fuel consumption, maintenance cycles)
• End-of-life handling (recycling, dismantling, landfill)

The result is a comprehensive view of a vessel’s carbon footprint and other impacts from the very first plate of steel to the last bolt at scrapping.

What Can You Use It For?

1. Design Optimization

• Compare materials and construction methods
• Quantify the climate impact of design choices
• Model emissions trade-offs (e.g., lighter hull vs. stronger steel)

2. Supplier and Material Selection

• Evaluate the carbon footprint of green steel vs. conventional steel
• Assess sustainability of key components (propulsion systems, coatings)
• Use LCA data to guide climate-aligned procurement

3. Customer and Stakeholder Reporting

• Share verified climate performance with clients, partners, and financiers
• Meet growing ESG requirements from charters, lenders, and regulators
• Differentiate in tenders by showing science-based evidence of performance

4. Regulatory and Compliance Preparation

• Get ahead of frameworks like EU Taxonomy, CSRD, and FuelEU Maritime
• Demonstrate alignment with lifecycle-based climate metrics
• Avoid future greenwashing risks by backing claims with real data

ReFlow’s Approach to Vessel LCA

At ReFlow, we work with shipowners, OEMs, and designers to create flexible, digital Vessel LCAs that are:

• Customizable to each design or ship class
• Based on real activity data, not just averages
• Circularity-aware, tracking both linear and remanufactured pathways
• Exportable for reporting, certifications, and client communication

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Want to quantify the climate impact of your next vessel design?

‍Let’s talk about how we help turn lifecycle data into smarter shipbuilding and more credible climate claims.