Netherlands

Reporting on the latest developments from the Dutch maritime sector

Netherlands

GoodShipping and the Port of Rotterdam Authority launch ‘Switch to Zero’ campaign to reduce carbon emissions

Companies that import or export their freight by vessel generally have little influence on the container shipping company’s fuel choice. GoodShipping aims to change this with the ‘insetting’ concept. The Port of Rotterdam Authority and GoodShipping are conducting a joint campaign to inform companies of this concept so they can have part, or all of their sea freight transported via sustainable fuel.

The aim of the ‘Switch to Zero’ campaign is to recruit 20 sea freight shippers. Swinkels Family Brewers, known for brands including Bavaria and Cornet, and Dille & Kamille are the first to announce their participation in this campaign. They will have some, or all of their containers shipped using sustainable fuel next year.

Insetting does not involve achieving carbon reductions through compensation (offsetting by planting trees, for example), but through shipping using sustainable fuel. Shippers often transport small numbers of containers on different vessels and can use insetting to purchase a certain amount of carbon reduction via GoodShipping. GoodShipping ensures that this is achieved by providing a vessel with sustainable fuel. This does not need to be the same vessel on which the containers are transported.

New shippers on board

As part of their drive to promote CO2 savings in the logistics sector, GoodShipping and the Port of Rotterdam Authority aim to find 20 sea freight shipping companies that wish to use this service. The campaign makes it easy to get involved and deliver a concrete contribution to reducing carbon emissions. The aim is for joint vessel bunkering with these shippers to reduce the amount of carbon released into the atmosphere by 2,023 tonnes. This is comparable to the amount of carbon released when transporting 15,000 TEU containers between Rotterdam and Gothenburg.

“We’ve seen a huge acceleration in the pace of the energy transition brought about by shippers over the past two years,” said Dirk Kronemeijer, CEO of GoodShipping, “which is why we want to give more companies the opportunity to have their freight shipped sustainably. The Port of Rotterdam aims to be the world’s most sustainable port, and it was an obvious choice for GoodShipping to support that. With the ‘Switch to Zero’ campaign, we’re making it easy for companies to enhance the sustainability of their transport without complex supply chain adaptations.”

“Shipping is not yet on schedule to be carbon neutral by 2050,” explained Allard Castelein, Port of Rotterdam Authority CEO. “We are working with partners to develop a range of initiatives to help make logistics more sustainable: from battery-powered inland shipping to shore power for sea-going vessels, and from bio-kerosene production for aviation to so-called Green Corridors for sea-going vessels. The 2,023-tonne reduction through sustainable fuel use is just the start. We want to show that it can be done and start the discussion, with the aim of scaling up and reducing carbon emissions even further. The transition tempo needs to step up.”

Genuinely sustainable biofuels

Shipping is responsible for approximately 3% of global carbon emissions but, at the same time, is a complex sector that fell outside the international climate agreements for a long time. The chain is also fragmented because companies often only ship just a few containers on a vessel.

Dutch company GoodShipping is a global market leader in insetting, the service for shippers and producers to enable sea-going freight to be transported using sustainable fuels instead of traditional fossil fuels. This form of insetting accelerates the energy transition in the transport sector. The initiative does not lie with shipping companies, but with freight owners.

GoodShipping already works for companies including DHL, IKEA, BMW, Tony’s Chocolonely, Beiersdorf and Kings of Indigo. The fuel is produced from certified sustainable flows including frying oils and animal fats that are labelled as 100% waste and cannot be used in higher grade products. n