Build new, let the old be

It is more effective to focus entirely on building new green ships than to also rebuild and make existing ships more climate efficient. Therefore, the efficiency requirements for carbon dioxide emissions should focus on shipping companies' fleets, not on individual vessels. Thos according to a new report from Danish Shipping.

If new low- and zero-emission ships are to enter into operation and more expensive climate-neutral fuels are to gain acceptance by the end of this decade, CO2 regulation should be possible on the basis of a shipping company’s fleet – and not of an individual ship. This is the conclusion of a new analysis commissioned by Danish Shipping and prepared by consultants CE Delft.

According to the analysis, older ships in a fleet should be left untouched, freeing up funds to build new and green ships - at best, over 70% of the additional costs of using low-carbon fuels can be covered by not investing in improvements to other ships in the fleet. . With this approach, the total emissions from the fleet will not be greater than if all vessels meet the current carbon intensity indicators (CII).

According to the analysis, older ships in a fleet should be left untouched, freeing up funds to build new and green ships - at best, over 70% of the additional costs of using low-carbon fuels can be covered by not investing in improvements to other ships in the fleet. At the same time, the approach will ensure that total CO2 emissions would not be greater than if the older ships are also required to be retrofitted.

“It is extremely important that the world fleet becomes more efficient, but if we are to achieve our goal of being carbon neutral by 2050, the new fuels must also be part of the picture. The analysis states that green fuels will not be in use in this decade unless an incentive is created. That incentive can be created by the IMO adopting a fleet-wide approach – without compromising the level of ambition”, Maria Skipper Schwenn, Executive Director for Security, Environment and Maritime Research at Danish Shipping, says in pressrelease.

Danish Shipping has submitted the analysis to the IMO - not as an actual proposal but as a set of ideas that can be included in the ongoing discussions about what requirements for energy efficiency should be placed on ships.

“The analysis is part of influencing the IMO member states and making them see that a fleet-based approach is the most logical, sensible and ambitious way of pushing for the green transition for ships. The fleet-based approach can be organised in such a way that you are at least as likely to achieve the set reduction targets. We therefore believe that CO2 regulation should be possible at fleet level if the shipping company or ship operator so wishes,” says Maria Skipper Schwenn.

 Read Danish Shipping's report