Shipping
Seabed activities raise risk of World War-era bombs detonating: Commissioner
Greater deep-sea economic activities have increased the risk of harm from munitions and chemical weapons dumped into European seas during the first and second world wars, EU Environment Commissioner Virginijus Sinkevičius has said.
Lack of green maritime fuels makes liquid natural gas a necessity says Commission
Liquid natural gas (LNG) is a necessary transitional fuel to decarbonise EU maritime activities as the available quantities of zero, or low-carbon fuels are currently insufficient, the European Commission has said.
Fit for 55 on all fronts? Can Europe lead innovation in green maritime?
Every year, around 400 million passengers embark or disembark in EU ports, including around 14 million on cruise ships. Efficient maritime transport connections are essential to the mobility of EU citizens, in developing EU regions, and to the EU economy as a whole.
Shipping industry proposes levy to speed up zero carbon future
Leading shipping associations have proposed creating a global levy on carbon emissions from ships to help speed up the industry's efforts to go greener.
Maritime transport emissions must be cut sharply, EU agency says
Maritime transport emissions must be drastically cut further if the European Union hopes to become carbon neutral by 2050, the European Maritime Safety Agency warned Wednesday (1 September).
Maersk orders eight large container ships to run on ‘carbon-neutral’ e-methanol
After announcing plans to operate a small carbon-neutral vessel by 2023, Danish shipping giant AP Moller-Maersk has ordered eight large ocean-going container vessels capable of running on 'green' e-methanol.
EU proposes adding shipping to its carbon trading market
The European Commission proposed on Wednesday (15 July) adding shipping to the bloc's carbon market for the first time, adding pressure to become greener on an industry that had avoided the European Union's system of pollution charges for over a decade.
Maersk eyes ‘leapfrog’ to carbon neutral fuels in shipping
The world’s largest shipping firm, Maersk, has called for urgent action to address the climate crisis, saying it will turn first to green methanol, and later on to green ammonia in order to reach its goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2050.
Draft EU policy to cut shipping emissions condemned as ‘disaster’
A leaked draft of a key EU policy designed to cut carbon emissions in shipping, one of the world’s biggest polluters, has been described as an environmental disaster for “promoting” liquified natural gas, a fossil fuel, as an alternative to heavy oil. EURACTIV's media partner, The Guardian, reports.
Maersk favours carbon tax for shipping
Maersk, the world's largest shipping firm, called Wednesday (2 June) for a carbon tax on ship fuel to encourage the transition to cleaner alternatives.
Too big to sail? Suez incident latest evidence of risks of megaships
The grounding of the Ever Given has caught the public’s attention. But it’s just the latest example of an accident in an industry where losing control can have disastrous consequences, writes Albert de Hoop.
Suspension of Suez Canal traffic deepens global container crunch
The suspension of traffic through the Suez Canal has deepened problems for shipping lines that were already facing disruption and delays in supplying retail goods to consumers, shipping sources said.
Fertiliser industry execs: ‘We see ammonia as a battery for hydrogen’
Ammonia has until now been used chiefly in the fertiliser industry as a way to return nitrogen to the soil. But it also has potential in boosting renewables – both as a replacement for hydrogen in long haul shipping and as a way of storing and transporting hydrogen.
Let’s end the debate: putting international shipping into the ETS is clearly legal
Shipping companies are crying foul over EU plans to regulate the sector’s emissions. But the industry’s claim that new rules would break international law has no legal basis, write Faïg Abbasov and Aoife O'Leary.
France’s Brittany Ferries in dire straits due to double Brexit/COVID whammy
After Brexit and the global pandemic, a new variant of the coronavirus ravaging the UK has dealt a fresh blow to the emblematic French shipping company Brittany Ferries, which now hopes for help from the French government. EURACTIV France reports.
Ship ‘coffee breaks’ not enough to avoid EU carbon charges
The European Union is on course to extend its emission trading scheme to shipping but is yet to decide which voyages should actually be included. New analysis insists that shippers should not try to game the system, as the potential savings on offer are negligible.
European transport’s green drive on the starting line
The European Commission launched on Wednesday (9 December) its vision for how to clean up transport’s emissions act, as part of a four year action plan designed to help the bloc hit its 2050 climate-neutrality target.OpinionStakeholder Opinion
How renewable fuels in the maritime sector can support a just and inclusive energy transition
In the transport sector, the most cost-efficient climate emission reductions can be made in the maritime segment, write Loes Knotter and Eric van den Heuvel.
Denmark and Norway team up to build world’s largest hydrogen ferry
A Danish-Norwegian project aimed at building what will be the world’s largest and most powerful hydrogen-fuelled ferry has applied for EU funding. The plan is to start operating a Copenhagen-Oslo service by 2027.
Italy’s port tax perks against EU rules, Vestager warns
Italy’s regime of offering corporate tax-exemption to its ports and harbours is a breach of EU competition rules, the European Commission announced on Friday (4 December), giving the government until 1 January 2022 to ditch the tax perks.
Much more ambition needed to clean up shipping
International Maritime Organisation plans and ambitions on cutting greenhouse gas emissions fall well short of what is needed, explain MEPs Jutta Paulus, Jytte Guteland and Catherine Chabaud.
Norway plans heavy oil ban around Svalbard
The Norwegian government has announced plans to ban heavy fuel oil (HFO), a dirty marine fuel that propels most vessels, around its Svalbard archipelago in the Arctic Ocean. The effort comes as UN efforts have been deemed too slow.
Norway’s green hydrogen ship granted €8m in EU funding
A prototype vessel powered by zero-emission hydrogen could take to Norway’s coastal waters in a few years, ferrying cargo and delivering hydrogen supplies to strategic areas, after the EU’s research and innovation fund has doled out €8 million to the pilot project.