Consumers, governments and "green" financiers increasingly pressure all modes of transportation to reduce greenhouse emissions, says Constantine Komodromos, founder and chief executive officer of Vessel Bot.

Greenhouse gas emissions are down in shipping, but that needs to be put into perspective, and it won’t last long, says Komodromos. Speed is one of the key factors impacting emissions, and because vessels have been sailing at slower speeds due to the high cost of fuel, there has been a decrease in emissions. “Carriers go with a slower speed so they can reduce their cost base.”

Some areas of the transportation space emit lower cumulative levels of gas. Larger vessels that carry much more cargo effectively allocate emissions to more containers at lower levels than a fleet of smaller ships can, Komodromos says. At the same time, the industry is introducing some alternative fuels that reduce emissions to some degree.

Emissions are destined to rise due to two factors. Because of disruptions, such as terrorist attacks on shipping in the Red Sea, many lines send their vessels around the Cape of Good Hope at the southern tip of Affrica. “To compensate for that extra distance and to maintain scheduled reliability, carriers also increase the speed,” he says. “So we've got two significant factors really increasing the amount of emissions. The bottom line in 2024 and in the tail end of 2023 is that we can expect to see that these emissions have skyrocketed.”

Three factors pressure carriers to reduce emissions as much as possible. First, environmentally conscious consumers demand reductions. Second, national governments are enacting legislation to cut the volume of emissions. Third, so-called green banks are pushing carrier customers to reduce GHG in return for more beneficial terms on loans. “This is another variable of the whole chain that is pushing for such reductions,” Komodromos says.