Sustainable ferry leasing strategies: the option contract perspective
Ferry demand fluctuates unpredictably across different seasons and holidays, posing significant scheduling challenges for operators and resulting in high operating costs and increased carbon emissions. To adapt to market demand variations, ferry operators often supplement their own fleets with lease...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2025-07-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Marine Science |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2025.1615572/full |
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| author | Huibing Cheng Hong He Shanshui Zheng Le Zhang Lang Xu Chunsheng Wang |
| author_facet | Huibing Cheng Hong He Shanshui Zheng Le Zhang Lang Xu Chunsheng Wang |
| author_sort | Huibing Cheng |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Ferry demand fluctuates unpredictably across different seasons and holidays, posing significant scheduling challenges for operators and resulting in high operating costs and increased carbon emissions. To adapt to market demand variations, ferry operators often supplement their own fleets with leased vessels. Therefore, this paper explores sustainable leasing strategies between ferry leasing companies and operators under uncertain demand conditions, aiming to maximize ferry utilization efficiency. First, this paper develops leasing models under four contract types: wholesale pricing, unilateral options (call and put), and bidirectional options (a classic game-theoretic approach for optimizing decisions under demand fluctuations). Subsequently, it determines the optimal number of leased ferries for each strategy. Then, this paper conducts a comparative analysis of the four contracts, supplemented by sensitivity analysis. Finally, it examines the scenario where an operator purchases ferries instead of leasing them. A case study of a high-speed passenger ferry company in Zhuhai demonstrates that option contracts can mitigate demand uncertainty, thereby improving fleet utilization. The bidirectional option proves more flexible than the unilateral option. However, leasing is not always preferable to purchasing. The findings provide sustainable insights for ferry operators in designing leasing strategies, ultimately reducing operating costs and carbon emissions. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-6ed47875dac64ffcb6abe1ecb51b992b |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2296-7745 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-07-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Marine Science |
| spelling | doaj-art-6ed47875dac64ffcb6abe1ecb51b992b2025-08-20T03:35:24ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Marine Science2296-77452025-07-011210.3389/fmars.2025.16155721615572Sustainable ferry leasing strategies: the option contract perspectiveHuibing Cheng0Hong He1Shanshui Zheng2Le Zhang3Lang Xu4Chunsheng Wang5School Transportation and Logistics, Guangzhou Railway Polytechnic, Guangzhou, ChinaSchool Transportation and Logistics, Guangzhou Railway Polytechnic, Guangzhou, ChinaSchool Transportation and Logistics, Guangzhou Railway Polytechnic, Guangzhou, ChinaSchool Transportation and Logistics, Guangzhou Railway Polytechnic, Guangzhou, ChinaSchool of Transport and Communications, Shanghai Maritime University, Shanghai, ChinaSchool of Economics Tongling University, Tongling, ChinaFerry demand fluctuates unpredictably across different seasons and holidays, posing significant scheduling challenges for operators and resulting in high operating costs and increased carbon emissions. To adapt to market demand variations, ferry operators often supplement their own fleets with leased vessels. Therefore, this paper explores sustainable leasing strategies between ferry leasing companies and operators under uncertain demand conditions, aiming to maximize ferry utilization efficiency. First, this paper develops leasing models under four contract types: wholesale pricing, unilateral options (call and put), and bidirectional options (a classic game-theoretic approach for optimizing decisions under demand fluctuations). Subsequently, it determines the optimal number of leased ferries for each strategy. Then, this paper conducts a comparative analysis of the four contracts, supplemented by sensitivity analysis. Finally, it examines the scenario where an operator purchases ferries instead of leasing them. A case study of a high-speed passenger ferry company in Zhuhai demonstrates that option contracts can mitigate demand uncertainty, thereby improving fleet utilization. The bidirectional option proves more flexible than the unilateral option. However, leasing is not always preferable to purchasing. The findings provide sustainable insights for ferry operators in designing leasing strategies, ultimately reducing operating costs and carbon emissions.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2025.1615572/fullferry leasingsustainabilityuncertain demandunilateral optionbidirectional option |
| spellingShingle | Huibing Cheng Hong He Shanshui Zheng Le Zhang Lang Xu Chunsheng Wang Sustainable ferry leasing strategies: the option contract perspective Frontiers in Marine Science ferry leasing sustainability uncertain demand unilateral option bidirectional option |
| title | Sustainable ferry leasing strategies: the option contract perspective |
| title_full | Sustainable ferry leasing strategies: the option contract perspective |
| title_fullStr | Sustainable ferry leasing strategies: the option contract perspective |
| title_full_unstemmed | Sustainable ferry leasing strategies: the option contract perspective |
| title_short | Sustainable ferry leasing strategies: the option contract perspective |
| title_sort | sustainable ferry leasing strategies the option contract perspective |
| topic | ferry leasing sustainability uncertain demand unilateral option bidirectional option |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2025.1615572/full |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT huibingcheng sustainableferryleasingstrategiestheoptioncontractperspective AT honghe sustainableferryleasingstrategiestheoptioncontractperspective AT shanshuizheng sustainableferryleasingstrategiestheoptioncontractperspective AT lezhang sustainableferryleasingstrategiestheoptioncontractperspective AT langxu sustainableferryleasingstrategiestheoptioncontractperspective AT chunshengwang sustainableferryleasingstrategiestheoptioncontractperspective |