The Global Ro-Ro Community (GRC), comprising Eastern Car Liner, K Line, MOL, NYK Line, Wallenius Wilhelmsen and ClassNK, has launched new guidelines to calculate GHG emission intensity from Ro-Ro ships, such as car carriers.
The guidelines have been created in conjunction with the Smart Freight Centre (SFC), aiming to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the logistics sector. These guidelines introduce a common calculation method, enabling shippers to accurately measure Scope 3 emissions and will further promote decarbonization in the shipping industry.
Furthermore, as stated, the model was created through collaborative discussions with key stakeholders including shipping companies, shippers and third-party verification organizations to ensure fairness, transparency and broad industry alignment.
High-level principles
Emission intensity calculation in general
- All GRC carrier members shall strive to implement the principles of agreed methodology while sharing emission intensity factors with their customers (cargo owners / OEMs).
- The primary unit of measuring transport activity shall be tonne-km / tonne-mile while secondary unit shall be decided by each carrier based on the requirements of their respective customers.
- All voyage legs including laden, ballast / repositioning over a period of at least 12 months shall be considered to calculate total GHG emissions and total transport activity.
Emission intensity reported to OEMs / cargo owners
- All GRC carrier members should calculate and report the emissions to cargo owners with either (A) the GRC calculation methodology or (B) any other method that they deem fit and follows the high-level principles outlined in this document, for example, “service-based” calculation.
- When carriers opt for its own calculation method, it’s up to each carrier how to define its “service” and ballast / repositioning voyages and also how to distribute the emissions out of ballast / repositioning voyages to laden voyages.
- For Scope 3 emissions calculation, OEMs/Cargo Owners use the Shortest Feasible Distance (SFD) +15% for voyage distance. SFD is taken from the reputable database. This is because GRC emission intensities are based on carriers reporting actual distance sailed by each vessel.
GRC average emission intensity
- The GHG emission accounting methodology described in this document shall be implemented by all participating carriers for calculating GRC average intensity factors as a “benchmark” for the carriers and cargo owners to compare with (A) emission intensities of other vessel types / transportation modes and (B) that of past years.
- The GRC averages shall be calculated for each of the tradelane agreed by the participating carriers as mentioned in this document.
