Shipping companies failing to set science-based climate targets
Prominent shipping companies still fail to set science-based net zero targets despite the IMO’s ambitious revision of its greenhouse gas strategy. Just four shipping companies, NYK Line, K Line, Cosco Shipping Logistics, and Höegh Autoliners, have set science-based targets aligning with the United Nations’ Paris Agreement’s aims to limit global warming to 1.5ºC, according to target-validating organization Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTI). While Cosco Shipping Logistics was the only one of the four to set a long-term net zero target for 2050 validated by SBTI, the remainder set only near-term targets. The group’s head of decarbonization funding, Lau Blaxekjaer, said, “The biggest blocker for shipping companies that want to set SBTI or other targets towards net-zero emissions by 2050 is the regulatory uncertainties. Although the Revised IMO GHG Strategy is clear on direction, how exactly the associated economic and technical instruments will turn out and what commercial impact they will have remains unclear.”
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More biofuels and e-fuels for cars and trucks would mean less for ships, T&E argues
Shipping would miss out on future fuel supplies if rule changes open the door to their wider use for road transport, according to campaign group Transport & Environment. “Including biofuels and e-fuels in road transport would cut available volumes for hard-to-decarbonize sectors while doing nothing to bring down e-fuel prices for aviation and shipping,” the NGO said in a briefing paper. The group rejected fuel industry claims that using renewable hydrogen-based fuels in road transport would help scale production up and thus benefit shipping.
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Wärtsilä launches dual-fuel ammonia engine
Wärtsilä announced its first four-stroke dual-fuel ammonia engine and its first customer. It said Norwegian firm Viridis Bulk Carriers signed a letter of intent earlier this month to contract the engine, based on the Wartsila 25 engine, in early 2024. Wärtsilä said the engine could cut greenhouse gas emissions by more than 70% compared with a similar-sized diesel engine if zero-emissions green ammonia was used. Viridis aims to order two ammonia-powered 4,700 dwt bulk carriers in the coming months for delivery by the end of 2025. The firm, a joint venture between Navigare Logistics, Amon Maritime, and Mosvold Rederi, secured Nkr152m ($14m) from the Norwegian government for its upcoming orders.
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US imports peak post-summer
Imports to US major ports reached their highest level in September this year, crossing the 2m teu threshold for the first time since October last year. The National Retail Federation and Hackett Associates said in their latest report that imports to the 13 largest US box ports reached 2.03m teu last month, beating their earlier projection by 4.6%, or about 90,000 teu. However, a separate report by logistics and software provider Descartes that tallies imports across all US ports based on US Customs and Border Protection data pointed to more strength in October. It said October imports stood at 2.3m teu, a 3.9% year-on-year increase and an 11.4% increase from the same period in pre-pandemic October 2019. It said it was the first time import volumes increased in double digits from the same period in 2019.
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Cargo operations partially resume after cyberattack hits DP World Australia
Cargo handling operations at some of DP World’s terminals in Australia were recovering on 13 November from an apparent weekend cyberattack. However, shippers say the operator’s Sydney gateway could take up to two weeks to return to normal. The incident, which led DP World to disconnect computer systems from the Internet, comes as dockworkers announced a further series of strikes this week at DP World’s four Australian terminals in an ongoing row over new rostering arrangements. The action includes a four-day walkout at the Sydney terminal.
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Ports and customs seek to build trust
According to a new report, port and customs organizations need to take advantage of the digitalization agenda to break down barriers between the two and promote the smooth flow of cargo. The World Customs Organization and the International Association of Ports and Harbors have released a set of guidelines that the two hope will merge the often competing interests in trade flows by integrating digital systems. The guidelines aim to provide practical guidance on how both parties can work together better to improve the speed and predictability of trade flows while ensuring the security and integrity of global supply chains. The project emerged from work undertaken at the beginning of the pandemic when it became apparent electronic data exchange was critical to replacing face-to-face, paper-based transactions.
Read more: Lloyd’s List | WCO-IAPH
CMA CGM commits €100 million to new Paris-based AI research lab
CMA CGM Group has joined ex-Google CEO Eric Schmidt to develop a lab for “open research in artificial intelligence” based in Paris. The lab is called Kyutai. It was co-founded by the CMA CGM Group, Schmidt’s investment arm called Schmidt Ventures, and Xavier Niel, head of the French telecom provider iliad Group. Iliad Group and CMA CGM Group each contributed €100 million to fund the research laboratory, with Kyutai “seeking to bring other private investors on board,” the carrier said in a statement.
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Congress steps into debate over jurisdiction of rail fees for ocean containers
US shippers could be a step closer to receiving clarity over which government agency should have oversight of the storage fees railroads charge for ocean containers as Congress looks to settle whether policing international intermodal freight should fall to the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) or the Surface Transportation Board (STB). Rep. John Garamendi, D-Calif., is working on draft legislation that would “compel” the FMC and STB to draft a memorandum of understanding over which agency has authority over international intermodal freight, according to Rich Roche, a vice president at third-party logistics provider Mohawk Global and member of the FMC’s National Shipper Advisory Committee.
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UK watchdog calls for end to ocean carrier antitrust immunity
The UK’s competition regulator has proposed joining its European Commission counterpart in allowing container shipping’s antitrust immunity to lapse when the regulation expires next April. The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) will decide after another round of industry feedback is considered in a public consultation that will close on 15 December. Following the UK’s exit from the European Union, the EU’s block exemption regulations that were in force at the end of the Brexit transition period on 31 December 2020 were retained in UK law. But the EC’s announcement in October that the CBER was “no longer fit for purpose” and would not be renewed next year blindsided most in the container shipping industry who were expecting a revision of the rule rather than its scrapping. Just a month later, the CMA has arrived at its provisional conclusion that there is no longer any benefit to the industry in maintaining the carriers’ exemption from UK competition law.
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