Eastern Pacific Shipping hits its ESG target two years ahead of schedule

Singapore-based ship management company Eastern Pacific Shipping (EPS) has met its Environmental, Social & Governance (ESG) policy two years ahead of schedule, the company announced.

EPS started disclosing a fleetwide CO₂ emissions report last year, using the industry-accepted Annual Efficiency Ratio (AER).

In its first report, EPS reported a 2019 AER of 4.7, which showed a steady decline from 2015, where it had an AER of 5.1. This downtrend prompted EPS management to set a target of achieving an AER of 4.5 by 2022. 

Today, EPS released its 2021 ESG Policy, where the company announced it achieved an AER of 4.4, meeting its target a full two years ahead of schedule.

EPS CEO Cyril Ducau said that the company’s ability to align its forces towards a common green goal can be credited to the philosophy of ‘not letting the perfect be the enemy  of the good.’

EPS intends to drive the agenda for decarbonisation by using alternative marine fuels, such as liquefied natural gas (LNG), liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), ethane, and biofuels.

The company already has LNG-powered ships in its fleet. To remind, in November 2020 its managed vessel M/V CMA CGM Tenere carried out the company’s first LNG bunkering during a scheduled port call in Rotterdam.

The 14,800 TEU dual-fuel LNG containership, the first in a series chartered to CMA CGM, took on 10,600 m3 of LNG, which is enough fuel for a round trip voyage between Rotterdam and Asia.

The operation came on the back of a biofuel trial the company embarked upon with GoodFuels for one of its MR tankers.

EPC bunkered its 2010-built 47,377 deadweight tonne MR tanker M/T Pacific Beryl. with the residual-fuel equivalent Bio-Fuel Oil on October 9 in Dutch waters.

The BFO’s performance will be tested and analysed on M/T Pacific Beryl, and the company plans to test the fuel on other classes of EPS managed ships in the near future.

Over the next few years, EPS plans to add LNG and LPG dual-fuel vessels across various segments with the aim of creating a future-proof fleet that will comply with IMO regulations.

Namely, EPS’ 36 newbuilds scheduled for delivery in 2021-2022 are predominantly powered by alternative marine fuels.

These vessels are spread across EPS’ bulk, container, and tanker segments and are described as the cleanest vessels on water in their respective categories.

These include five LNG dual-fuel Newcastlemax bulk carriers, chartered to BHP, as well as four 98,000 cubic meter very large ethane carriers being built for China-based Zhejiang Satellite Petrochemical (STL), featuring dual-fuel ethane propulsion.

“EPS is fully committed to the green and technology-driven growth of the industry on all fronts. While the ultimate objective is zero emissions, that is simply not feasible today. What is feasible is using various resources currently available to significantly lower CO₂ emissions and greenhouse gas emissions in general. Vessel optimisation technology, alternative marine fuels, like LNG, LPG, and biofuels, and a workforce dedicated to the greater good, has proven that cleaner shipping is achievable today,” says Ducau.

“While our 2020 emissions report is good news, it’s important for us not to become complacent. We need to maintain a low AER at a time when our diverse fleet across the container, dry bulk, and tanker segments is expanding, with over 40 newbuilds on the horizon. Fortunately, most of these vessels will be powered by alternative marine fuels, making them the cleanest ships on water in their respective categories.”