Ship exhaust emissions have been considered as a significant source of air pollution that has an adverse impact on the global climate and human health. It is of vital importance to create an accurate ship emission inventory for the purpose of formulating effective control measures. A wide range of inventory compilation methods have been proposed around the globe, and there has long been a pressing need to analyze and compare these methods in depth. This study sorted out and categorized inventory compilation methods of ship emissions in recent decades. Five main methods were compared and analyzed by their applicability, complexity, time of calculation, accuracy of results, etc. In addition, a new method was proposed to develop an emission inventory based on a vessel energy consumption reporting system. This method is believed to have the potential advantages to produce results of higher accuracy and temporal and spatial resolutions. To perform the validation, three cases at different scales were selected in part of China and surrounding maritime waters (large-scale), the Yangtze River Delta region (medium-scale), and Tianjin Port (small-scale), respectively. The analysis results show that: each of methods have different technical characteristics. Computed results significantly between methods, with the maximum deviation of up to 87%. It is advisable that the optimal method should be chosen based on the actual needs in inventory compilation and the data available. In terms of accuracy of results, Methods 1 and 5 offer moderately high accuracy; Method 2 provides average accuracy; while Methods 3 and 4 produce low accuracy. In terms of resolution of results, Methods 1 and 5 provide high-resolution temporal and spatial distribution of ship emissions; Method 2 delivers low-resolution spatial distribution; while Methods 3 and 4 are incapable of spatial distribution. In terms of applicability, Method 1 applies to the calculation of inventories of varying scales; Method 2 is more applicable to small-scale calculations, such as a port; Methods 3, 4, and 5 are more desirable for large-scale calculations, such as a country. The author recommends Methods 5, 1, 3, and 2/4 in a descending order of preference for large-scale ship emissions inventory compilations; recommends Method 5 (if accuracy is the first priority) or Method 1 (if temporal and spatial resolutions are given first priority), followed by Methods 2, 3, and 4 in a descending order of preference for small/medium-scale ship emissions inventory compilations. These results may serve to help inventory compilers choose an applicable method and support improvements in inventory compilation methods.
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