Topics on the Green Corridor
Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore, the Port of Rotterdam, and 20 other partners in the Rotterdam-Singapore green corridor project will work together to cut emissions by 20%-30% by 2030 compared with 2022 levels. The corridor’s backers, which include shipping companies, banks, ports, and research institutes, will attempt to meet the International Maritime Organization’s new green targets by developing and using zero- and near-zero-emission fuels in containerships of 8,000 teu or larger on the 15,000 km route.
On the other hand, Los Angeles, Long Beach, and Shanghai ports announced the creation of the first-ever green shipping corridor designed to accelerate emissions reductions at three of the world’s largest container ports and from vessels in transit from China to Southern California. The Green Shipping Corridor Implementation Plan unveiled on 22 September, will build upon emissions reduction efforts underway at the three ports. Also part of the plan are container line partners — CMA CGM, Cosco, Maersk, and ONE — who say they intend to begin deploying reduced or zero-lifecycle carbon-capable ships on the trans-Pacific corridor by 2025.
Read more: Lloyd’s List1 | JOC | Lloyd’s List2
CMA CGM teams up with Maersk to scale up green efforts
Container giants Maersk and CMA CGM are teaming up to accelerate and scale decarbonization efforts. While the loose cooperation agreement does not come with any immediate investment detail or specific projects, the agreement to collaborate on the development of methanol and ammonia marks a significant pooling of efforts from two of the industry’s frontrunners in ordering dual-fuel vessels. The collaboration agreement, which both companies insist is open to other companies to join, will see the two lines develop sustainable fuel standards and combine efforts to accelerate the mass production of green methane and green methanol.
Read more: Lloyd’s List
Japan’s three shipping giants team up to carry liquefied hydrogen
Japan’s three largest shipowners, Mitsui OSK Lines, NYK Line, and K Line, agreed to invest in JSE Ocean, a research company specializing in carrying liquefied hydrogen (LH2), to build a global supply chain for clean fuel. According to a release, each will hold 16.6% of the stock in JSE Ocean, while Japan Suiso Energy remains the majority shareholder with 50.2% of the shares. The four companies will try to establish the marine transport of LH2 on a commercial scale.
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Seaspan’s ammonia-fuelled ULCS concept advances
New details of the 15,000 teu ammonia boxship design show ammonia’s challenges but its potential. Ultra-large containership would consume 326 tonnes of ammonia per day at an operating speed of 16 knots, three times more than conventional fuel. Meanwhile, many additional safety aspects have to be considered. But tests have shown ammonia looks less dangerous to bunker than thought.
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Topics on EU’s emissions trading system surcharges
Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd unveiled the estimated surcharges shippers will face next year as liners comply with the European Union’s emissions trading system (ETS). Maersk warns those costs will be “significant.”
Managing rising decarbonization costs has bumped the agenda for European shippers as they look ahead to next year’s carrier contract talks that will need to include green surcharges associated with shipping’s inclusion in the European Union’s ETS. Shippers emphasized the need for complete transparency from carriers that deploy “emission surcharges” to recover the cost of complying with the ETS that comes into effect on 1 January.
Shippers can expect little clarity around Europe’s carbon tax surcharges to be imposed from 1 January, with carriers relying on “guesswork” to estimate the levels they’ll charge customers, according to Sea-Intelligence Maritime Analysis.
Read more: JOC1 | JOC2 | JOC3 | JOC4
Box spot rates slump as Golden Week begins
Carrier efforts to support rates through capacity cuts have failed to lift rates. Further blank sailings are in sight as peak season drifts away. Container spot rates closed out in September with new lows as the weak peak season drifts to an end. Spot rates reported by the Shanghai Containerised Freight Index show a continued slide as carrier efforts to maintain rates through capacity cuts fail to suffice.
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Maritime trade sees slow recovery but faces decarbonization challenges
“The industry remains resilient, and UNCTAD expects continued but moderated growth in maritime trade volume for the medium term (2024–2028),” it said in its latest Review of Maritime Transport. But it warned that global shipping faced “concurrent forces” that made balancing supply and demand challenging, particularly in container shipping.
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IMO 2030 targets are achievable if everyone is on board
Panelists told Marine Money Asia that meeting the International Maritime Organization’s 2030 green targets will be expensive but achievable as long as the shipping industry works together. Global Centre for Maritime Decarbonisation chief executive Lynn Loo said at the 26 September event the industry had to work together to overcome the challenge. Pavilion Energy operations and chartering head Toby Forrest said: “We all need to work together to share more, and it’s not just about diversity in innovations.”
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China leading global clean hydrogen capacity: IEA
According to the International Energy Agency, China is leading the world in electrolyzer capacity to make green hydrogen and will reach 1.2 GW — half of the global total — by the end of 2023. Global low-emission hydrogen production could reach 38m tons annually by 2030 if all announced projects are realized. However, 17m tons of the total would come from projects in the early stages of development, the IEA said in its Global Hydrogen Review. Two of the world’s largest electrolysis projects started in China in the past two years. The country is set to consolidate its lead, accounting for over 40% of the electrolysis projects that have reached final investment decisions.
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West coast dockworkers union files for bankruptcy protection
The International Longshore and Warehouse Union filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, saying a decision by terminal operator International Container Terminal Services Inc. (ICTSI) to appeal a reduced damages settlement has sapped its coffers. The union says services will continue as usual. The case stems from a dispute over a decade ago when terminal operator ICTSI took the union to court over slowdowns at the Port of Portland in Oregon.
Read more: Lloyd’s List
