More and more cargo owners are taking the opportunity to exert environmental pressure on carriers to mitigate their environmental impact. This observation was made by Sara Sköld, Director at Clean Shipping Network, whose international environmental index, the Clean Shipping Index, has grown from 0 to 100 in just a few years. It is now used by many of Sweden’s largest import and export companies.
The Clean Shipping Index was set up in Gothenburg in 2007 by Ulf Duus and Jan Ahlbom. County Administrative Board employee Jan Ahlbom and consultant Ulf Duus had been assigned the task of compiling a report on the latest environmental technology in shipping. During the course of their examination they gradually came to the realisation that there were surprisingly few ships at the Port of Gothenburg that were environmentally adapted.
Sara Sköld explained: “They discovered that the shipping companies’ customers were exerting pressure on the carriers to mitigate their environmental impact. This led to the cargo owners and shipping companies joining forces to produce eco-adapted solutions. Working in collaboration with a number of major cargo owners, Ulf and Jan went on to develop what was to become the Clean Shipping Index.”
The Clean Shipping Index is an online tool where transport purchasers can compare the environmental performance of different ships. All the shipping companies that are affiliated to the index publish information about their ships. On the other side, transport purchasers can see how the different ships perform in relation to each other.
54 shipping companies report data
Since the beginning in 2007, the Clean Shipping Index has grown steadily. There are now 31 affiliated cargo owners and 51 affiliated shipping companies.
According to Sara Sköld, coordinated demands from major transport purchasers are an efficient means of driving environmental development forward.
“With the Clean Shipping Index, it is simple to make an active choice based on the carriers’ environmental impact. For the shipping companies, being affiliated to the index offers a competitive advantage.”
Mats Samuelsson, Global Logistics Transport Manager at H&M, said: “We entered Clean Shipping Index for the sake of the partnership. As a large proportion of our climate impact is coming from our suppliers, collaboration with our carriers is vital. With the aid of the Clean Shipping Index we can work together as cargo owners to exert pressure on the shipping companies, inducing them to become more eco-friendly.”
Stricter stipulations with the introduction of SECA
The Clean Shipping Index gives each ship a score. Ships that reach a figure of 35 per cent or more in all categories (nitric oxide, sulphur dioxide, carbon dioxide and chemicals as well as water and waste) are classified as green. The index is designed in such a way that a ship gets scores if they go beyond the legal stipulations is awarded points.
From January 1, stricter sulphur regulations will be introduced in the Baltic Sea, North Sea, English Channel and along the coasts of the USA. This could make it more difficult for the shipping companies to attain green classification.
“When the new, stricter sulphur regulations come into force,” said Sara Sköld, “the demands on ships in the Clean Shipping Index will increase. In the New Year, green classification will require that a ship runs on low sulphur fuel or has invested in further environmental adaptations, such as dedusters.”
Despite stricter environmental legislation, Sara Sköld believes that the Clean Shipping Index could become the ‘ticket to trade’ of the future. The companies involved are increasing in number and some time ago the index was also opened up to forwarding companies.
“We have noticed a substantial interest in sustainable transport in the industry and the level of environmental awareness is very high,” Sara Sköld concluded.
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Source: Port of Gothenburg
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