Shanghai and LA-LB set green shipping corridor target date
The first low- and zero-emission vessels will be deployed on the Los Angeles, Long Beach and Shanghai green shipping corridor by 2025.
PHOTO: Aerial view of the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles in southern California, US. Getty Images
The C40 Cities association is facilitating a trans-Pacific green shipping corridor connecting the ports of Los Angeles, Long Beach and Shanghai in an effort to reduce emissions on “one of the world's busiest container shipping routes”. C40 Cities is a global network of cities working to address climate change.
The C40 Cities association and corridor partners have now released an action plan to implement the green shipping corridor between the two Californian ports and Shanghai.
According to the roadmap, the carrier partners of the project that will deploy low- or zero-emission ships on the corridor include shipping majors CMA CGM, COSCO Shipping Lines, A.P. Moller-Maersk (Maersk), Ocean Network Express (ONE) and Evergreen.
These shipping companies will also work towards deploying the “world’s first zero-lifecycle carbon emission container vessel” on the green shipping corridor by 2030.
The port partners will develop bunkering infrastructure to provide cleaner marine fuels along the route, and shore power facilities in ports to reduce emissions from ships at berth by 2025.
While the roadmap does not specify which marine fuels they will support, the carrier partners have invested in methanol-fuelled vessels individually. Most of these vessels will be delivered between 2024 and 2027. Some of them have also announced plans to investigate ammonia as a primary fuel in the future.
Green shipping corridor projects across the globe
The California-Shanghai green shipping corridor is one of the several green corridor projects rolled out around the world to speed up emissions reduction and prepare fleets for stricter mandated reduction targets.
The project’s target date of 2025 coincides with Australia-Singapore's 2025 timeline, and it is two years earlier than the Rotterdam-Singapore green shipping corridor's 2027 schedule.
Meanwhile, Sweden’s Port of Gothenburg has signed green shipping corridor deals with Rotterdam and Belgium's North Sea Port to spur uptake of alternative fuels from ocean-going vessels by 2025.
Gothenburg and Rotterdam will connect their green corridor to a wider network of deep-sea corridors, including the European Green Corridors Network that was launched by a range of ports in coordination with the Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller Center for Zero Carbon Shipping (MMMCZCS) in March last year.
The US and South Korea have also announced plans to explore green corridors between major ports in both countries. In addition, a consortium of companies and organisations spanning the maritime, mining, steel and energy sectors is looking into developing a green corridor for zero-emission shipping of iron ore between South Africa and Europe.
By Konica Bhatt
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