Evaluating ESG Performance in the Maritime Sector: An Integrated BWM–Fuzzy VIKOR Approach

Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) considerations have become strategically important across industries, yet maritime adoption remains constrained by inconsistent reporting standards, uneven enforcement, and heterogeneous stakeholder expectations. This study develops a parallel dual-entity evaluation framework that integrates the Best-Worst Method (BWM) to determine the relative importance of maritime ESG criteria with Fuzzy VIKOR to rank expert-assessed shipping-company and port archetypes. Assessments were obtained from 26 maritime experts. Carbon Emissions (CE-E1), Fuel Usage and Efficiency (FUE-E2), and Employee Rights and Safety (ERS-S1) emerged as the most influential criteria. The liquid-bulk/tanker shipping archetype was assessed more favorably than the container and dry-bulk archetypes, whereas the container-port archetype ranked ahead of liquid-bulk and dry-bulk port archetypes. Sensitivity analyses showed that the leading shipping archetype remained stable under the tested criterion-weight perturbations, whereas the port ranking exhibited greater sensitivity under selected scenarios; changes in the VIKOR decision-preference parameter preserved the baseline leading alternatives. The rankings should be interpreted as relative expert assessments of stylized maritime categories rather than evidence that all organizations in one category systematically outperform those in another, and they do not constitute a measure of absolute sustainability. Persistent limitations include non-standardized ESG data and incomplete disclosure across maritime actors. The framework provides a decision-support and benchmarking basis for maritime managers, port authorities, financiers, and policymakers when prioritizing ESG improvement areas and developing more sector-specific reporting and evaluation practices.