Sustainability goals: New analysis shows 31% emissions gap between ocean carriers on same trade lane
Global container shipping emissions intensity rose in Q2 but five of six vessel-size segments actually improved efficiency. The post Sustainability goals: New analysis shows 31% emissions gap between ocean carriers on same trade lane appeared first on FreightWaves .
A new analysis has revealed a significant emissions gap of 31% between ocean carriers operating on the same trade lanes, despite overall emissions intensity for the container shipping industry increasing by 1.5% year-over-year in the second quarter of 2026. VesselBot, an Athens-based research firm, analyzed 86,389 voyages completed by 6,523 container vessels, highlighting that fleet-wide and trade-lane averages can mask substantial efficiency gains and operational differences among carriers.
While five of the six vessel-size categories showed efficiency improvements, feeder vessels experienced a decline, contributing to the overall average increase. The report emphasizes that mega-ships, such as Neo-Panamax and Very Large Container Ships (VLCS), play a disproportionate role in global container trade, operating a small percentage of voyages but generating the majority of transport work and emissions.
However, feeder and Panamax vessels, despite handling the majority of voyages, are responsible for a larger share of emissions. The efficiency gap between carriers operating the same routes is attributed to factors such as vessel deployment, utilization, and voyage execution. For example, Hapag-Lloyd and Mediterranean Shipping Co. outperformed the trade average on the Northern Europe-North America East Coast trade, while MSC lagged behind despite similar voyage distances.
The analysis underscores the importance of individual voyage performance over fleet-wide averages in assessing emissions outcomes.
Written by urgent.news from FreightWaves's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
