Multi-objective decision support to enhance environmental sustainability in maritime shipping: A review and future directions

•Systematically reviewed the literature on environmental sustainability, DSS and MOO in maritime shipping.•Analyzed trends of the literature in the above areas.•Uncovered the gaps for MOO as part of a DSS for sustainable maritime logistics.•Identified future research directions to improve sustainability of maritime shipping.

This paper aims to examine the potential of multi-objective optimization (MOO) as a decision support to improving sustainability in maritime shipping. We focus on environmental sustainability and the trade-offs involved with economic and operational objectives. Through a systematic approach, we review the literature on environmental sustainability, decision support and multi-objective optimization in maritime shipping. We identify the gaps and directions for future research. It is expected that the next generation of decision support systems for maritime transport will exploit the theoretical development in MOO to facilitate informed decision making in maritime supply chains considering environmental sustainability and the competing objectives.