CO2 Emissions of the Container World Fleet

The development of measures to reduce ship borne Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions is recently of high priority of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO). Shipping is by far the most energy efficient mode of transport but society has started to critically view also CO2-emissions from shipping. Container vessels which are the bloodlines of the global supply chains have relatively high installed power to achieve fast and reliable services. This paper first looks into the historic energy efficiency of container vessels using available public data. The current energy efficiency is presented based on data provided by operating container vessels. It is documented that with proper emission predictions and knowledge on emission abatement potentials, policy makers and ship designers and operators will be able to make the right decisions for future shipping. The emission projections show, however, that currently discussed CO2-emission targets will probably not be met.