Marine & Nautical
Advanced

Ship Fuel Consumption

Fuel burn rises with the cube of speed for a ship.

Formula

F=cv3F = c\, v^3

Variables

FFuel rate
cConstant
vSpeed

Example

Cutting speed 20% saves roughly half the fuel (0.8³≈0.51).

Did You Know?

'Slow steaming' exploits this cube law — shipping lines cut speed to slash fuel bills and emissions.

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