BOXSHIP pollution per container is no lower than it was six years ago, according to Transport & Environment.

EU shipping emissions fell in 2023, probably because of a fall in trade. New ships are also more efficient thanks to better technology.

But T&E analysis of EU shipping data found that under real-life conditions, Europe’s containerships polluted just as much on average as they did in 2018.

A separate study by researchers CE Delft for T&E found there is likely no link between fuel prices and ship speeds, the biggest contributor to operational efficiency.

“There just aren’t enough incentives for ships to sail more efficiently,” T&E shipping manager Jacob Armstrong said.

“Shipping companies are reacting to higher fuel prices by buying slightly more efficient vessels.

“But the data shows that on the whole, transporting containers around isn’t getting more efficient.”

Armstrong said regulators should put measures in place to promote real improvements in efficiency to “slash emissions overnight”.

This could include limiting ship speeds and promoting technologies like wind assistance, and by the International Maritime Organization adding teeth to its Carbon Intensity Indicator rules.

T&E said if ships travelled at 75% of the speed they do now, it would cut carbon emissions by 47%.

For a company with four ships trading Rotterdam-Shanghai, this would mean one extra ship needed for the same work over a year. But even this would cut CO2 emissions by 34%, since fuel consumption and therefore emissions increase significantly with speed.

Shipowners have argued in recent years for charterparty reform to win charterers over to the climate benefits of slower voyages, pointing to the gains to be made from stopping “sail fast then wait” trading.

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