Shipping

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.

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.

MEPs agree to chart shipping’s ETS course

The European Parliament on Tuesday (15 September) voted in favour of including greenhouse gas emissions from the maritime sector in the European Union's carbon market from 2022, throwing its weight behind EU plans to make ships pay for their pollution.

Shippers balk at EU carbon market plan

The shipping industry has railed against plans to expand the EU carbon market to the maritime sector ahead of a crucial vote in the European Parliament on Tuesday (15 September) that risks putting lawmakers on a collision course with shippers.

Energy firm turns to rocket science in bid to green transport

French energy company Engie is teaming up with aerospace firm the ArianeGroup to steal a march on its rivals in the hydrogen production business, by drawing on expertise gained through Europe’s space programme.

Arctic shipping study exposes flaws in planned fuel ban

A proposed ban on polluting ship fuel in Arctic waters would only eliminate 5% of the most harmful climate-busting emissions due to a raft of waivers and exemptions, a new study warned on Thursday (3 September).

World’s first ‘carbon-capture at sea’ set for shipping trials

Japanese shipbuilding giant Mitsubishi announced on Monday (31 August) that it will build and test a carbon-capture system for ships, which is aimed at significantly reducing the emissions of the maritime sector.

A roadmap to cut shipping emissions in the Mediterranean

An emission control area for sulphur oxides in the Mediterranean is not a panacea, but it would open new possibilities for the region’s future while contributing to its health, writes Gaetano Leone.

Transport timetable: What’s moving in late 2020

Europe's transport sector, already hard hit by the coronavirus outbreak, faces a crucial and possibly defining end to 2020. EU and global targets will start to bite, while new technologies will face a challenging acid test.

Norway’s €2.1bn carbon-capture mega-project gets approval

The Norwegian government’s decision to fund the scale-up of carbon-capture-storage (CCS) technology with more than €2 billion got the green light from a state aid regulator on Friday (17 July). It is the largest tranche of funding ever approved by the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) body.