Container Shipping Carbon Emissions Reach Record High

2nd December 2024

In Q3, the ocean container shipping industry experienced record-high carbon emissions, driven by the ongoing conflict in the Red Sea, escalating freight rates, and global supply chain congestion. The Xeneta and Marine Benchmark Carbon Emissions Index (CEI), which tracks emissions across Xeneta’s 13 main ocean container routes, reached an unprecedented 107.9 points. This figure represents a 12.2% increase compared to the previous year, prior to the Red Sea crisis.

The routes between the Far East and the Mediterranean were notably affected, emerging as the poorest performers in 2024. These routes illustrate how the Red Sea conflict impacts emissions, as ships are rerouted around the Cape of Good Hope instead of using the Suez Canal, resulting in longer journeys and extended transit times.

The CEI, which is benchmarked against Q1 2018 data (with readings above 100 indicating higher emissions per tonne of cargo than in that period), has only surpassed the 100-point threshold twice: once in Q1 2024 following the Red Sea conflict escalation and again in Q3 2024. Other routes, such as those from North Europe to the South America East Coast, also saw significant CEI increases of over 30% year-on-year in Q3, even without traversing the Red Sea or the Suez Canal.

On the other hand, five routes recorded lower emissions compared to Q3 2023, primarily those unaffected by the need to bypass Africa. The backhaul route from the US East Coast to the Mediterranean reported the most significant year-on-year decrease in emissions for Q3, dropping by 26.5%.

A decrease in container filling factors also contributed to higher emissions per tonne of cargo. This trend is mainly due to an imbalance in trade flows, with European and US exports back to the Far East increasing at a slower pace than the volumes on the outbound routes. Xeneta provides extensive market intelligence on ocean and air freight, including data on market spreads, carrier rates, surcharges, and capacity.

Despite global initiatives to cut marine emissions and introduce new technologies across the shipping industry, emissions are at records levels. The Protea 2000 emissions monitoring system is approved for the analysis of exhaust gases from the engines and boilers of ships and offshore rigs. Robust and with proven reliability, up to six gases can be measured including SO₂, CO₂ and NO_x. The advanced Protea 2000 analyser utilises an in-situ (inside the exhaust) sample cell so avoiding the need to extract gas. Importantly this avoids the use of costly, high maintenance sample handling systems, and enables analysis of an unmodified, truly representative gas sample.

#protea #emissions #monitoring #cems #ftir #gas #analysers #shipping #marine #carbon #capture

Other Articles