HAMBURG (dpa-AFX) – The international shipping association Bimco is expecting a milestone on the way to climate neutrality for merchant fleets on the world’s oceans. “This summer we are expecting the revised strategy of the World Shipping Organization IMO – probably with the aim of climate-neutral shipping by 2050,” said Hamburg shipowner Nikolaus H. Schües of the newspaper “Welt am Sonntag”. The head of the F.Laeisz shipping company is a member of the Executive Committee of the German Shipowners’ Association (VDR) and has also been President of Bimco since the end of May. The VDR and Bimco have long advocated a level playing field in the global shipping industry.
So far, there is no such thing in terms of climate protection. The World Shipowners’ Association ICS is striving for climate neutrality in shipping by 2050, based on EU requirements. The UN special organization IMO, which is responsible for regulating global shipping, has so far set less ambitious targets. According to this, greenhouse gas emissions from shipping should be halved by 2050 and only reduced to zero by 2100. Differences of opinion and conflicts of interest among the 175 member countries had long blocked agreement on stricter requirements. The German shipbuilding association VSM once accused the IMO of being “on the crawl” when it comes to climate protection.
Schües calculated that shipping had already done a lot to reduce climate-damaging CO2 emissions. When the IMO regulations were passed in 2018, global emissions from shipping would have been around one billion tonnes of CO2. “This year shipping is expected to be around 822 million tons,” said Schües. “Despite significant fleet growth, the industry has reduced its emissions by around 20 percent within 15 years.” Around 90 percent of global trade is carried out by sea. Two to three percent of global CO2 emissions are attributed to shipping.
In order to achieve the goal of climate-neutral shipping, in addition to greater efficiency of the drives, new, climate-neutral fuels are particularly important. The majority of merchant ships are currently still powered by heavy fuel oil or marine diesel, but alternatively the number of ships powered by fossil liquefied natural gas (LNG) is growing.
In addition to biofuels, the most promising candidates for “green” fuels are methanol and ammonia produced in a climate-neutral manner. Unlike in road traffic, electric drives are out of the question, at least on the long commercial shipping routes. “It is important that the development remains open to technology,” said Schües. “All alternatives have advantages and disadvantages, depending on the distances of the ship routes, the ship types and the question of what infrastructure already exists in the ports.”/kf/DP/mis
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