Maersk Line, the world’s largest container shipping company, has reached its 2020 target of reducing CO2 emissions by 25 per cent when compared with its benchmark 2007 levels.
'We are proud to hit this mark eight years ahead of schedule,' announced Morten Engelstoft, COO at Maersk Line. 'Itis confirmation we're on the right track. And to keep that momentum we're raising the target to a 40 per cent reduction in CO2 by 2020.
'Maersk Line’s focus on energy efficiency has made the company significantly more cost competitive,' he noted. 'And by cutting our CO2 we’ve also lowered the CO2 emissions of our customers, thereby helping them meet their own CO2 targets.'
According to Maersk Line, benchmarking data makes it possible for all customers to compare their shipping suppliers based on CO2 performance, with the group's experts helping customers implement such benchmarking schemes to make CO2 part of their buying decision.
'We see an increased environmental awareness among our customers, so when we improve our environmental performance, we also improve our customer relationships,' Engelstoft continued.
While shipping is statistically one of the most energy efficient way to transport cargo long distances, the contribution of CO2 to the atmosphere is 3-4 per cent of the global annual total.
'Maersk Line is an advocate for global regulation of CO2 for shipping. Cutting CO2 is a benefit for our business, not a threat to it,' noted Engelstoft. 'We reached this target largely from a combination of operational efficiency, network and voyage optimisation, slow steaming and technical innovation. We will hit the 40 per cent target with more of the same.'
'Other important factors will be the continued cooperation with our vessel leasing partners to retrofit their ships, and the arrival this year and next of the Triple-E vessels, which will be the largest and most energy efficient ships on the water.'
