Clean Cargo members applauded the DSGC Clean Shipping pilot
“The response was very enthusiastic.” Anne Dubost, Senior Global Lead Logistics & Sustainability at Heineken, mentions about the meeting end of May with the members op Clean Cargo. “Mads Stensen from Maersk and myself presented our Clean Shipping project and shared the first results on our 3 key objectives: a promising technology that works in practice on a container ship, successful collaboration between many stakeholders involved, and a message to innovators that we are eager to try new solutions to decarbonise ocean freight.”
Convinced that accelerated climate action is needed in marine shipping, multinationals DSM, FrieslandCampina, Heineken, Philips, Shell, and Unilever, members of the Dutch Sustainable Growth Coalition (DSGC), have initiated the Clean Shipping pilot in collaboration with global shipping line Maersk. On 24 March 2019 a 18000 TEU containership of Maersk left the harbour of Rotterdam on his way to Shanghai. During the trip it sailed several days on a fuel blend, containing 20 percent biofuel. This is the first time that a blend this high was used on a ship for this size. The biofuel is produced from waste sources, in this case used cooking oil, and has saved as least 4200 tons CO2. In the meantime the vessel is on his way back and will arrive in Rotterdam around June, 20th.
“Engineers are closely monitoring the impact of using the biofuel blend on the ship engine and results are very positive”, explains Dubost. “We also learn that collaboration is essential between different industry players, carrier, fuel providers, several shippers and many other stakeholders. We all gathered around a common goal, decarbonize ocean shipping. And we hope our pilot encourages for other innovative solutions. Biofuel isn’t the ultimate solution, but we need to start somewhere.”
In the audience – circa 100 participants - last week were global carriers, like Hapag-Lloyd, MSC and CMA CGM, shippers, like Ikea and Nike and freight forwarders. Their enthusiasm about the project confirms the direction of Clean Cargo in creating a “match making” platform for promising concrete decarbonization projects for container shipping.
Clean Cargo is a business-to-business leadership initiative working to reduce the environmental impacts of global goods transportation and promote responsible shipping. Clean Cargo members include over 50 members representing global shippers, freight forwarders and cargo carriers that represent around 80 percent of global container cargo capacity and constitutes the leading buyer-supplier forum for sustainability in the cargo shipping industry.
For more information see www.clean-cargo.org. Contact afarrag@bsr.org.
On June, 21th, during Sail at Scheveningen DSGC will present the results of the clean shipping pilot and the next steps to scale up. More information: Coen Faber, coenfaber@purebirds.com.
