Slow Steaming in Container Shipping

International supply chains heavily rely on maritime shipping. Since the beginning of the latest economical crisis, the containership fleet is slowing down. This paper gives a short overview of the slow steaming history as well as the widely assumed coherence between a ship´s speed and its fuel consumption. Calculating fuel consumption as a function of speed provides decision support regarding the decision to which extent slowing down should be performed. It can be assumed that, compared to sailing at full speed, a speed reduction has a positive economic and also environmental impact. This paper is focused on the economic aspects. We show the considerable cost saving potential of a lower ship speed as a result of the decreasing fuel consumption. In combination with other variables of a container vessels´ profit function, this may lead to the profit optimizing speed of a container carrier.