Hapag-Lloyd joins maritime decarbonization center investing $10 million

The Global Centre for Maritime Decarbonisation (GCMD) and German liner shipping company Hapag-Lloyd have signed a strategic partnership agreement committing to cooperate on efforts contributing to maritime decarbonisation.

The centre and Hapag-Lloyd will focus on collaboration to amplify the impact of the solutions and accelerate the time to deployment and adoption.

GCMD was formed in August 2021 with funding from the Maritime & Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) and six founding partners, namely BHP, BW, DNV Foundation, Eastern Pacific Shipping, Ocean Network Express and Sembcorp Marine. 

Shipping’s decarbonisation efforts are expected to benefit from this partnership with both organisations aligned on their strong ongoing commitment to protecting the environment and helping advance the decarbonisation of the shipping industry.

Hapag-Lloyd recently announced ambitious decarbonisation targets, making it a natural partner for the centre, GCMD said. The company is intensifying efforts to reduce the emissions of its entire fleet by 30% by 2030 compared to 2019 and is further aiming to be climate-neutral by 2045, ahead of the IMO 2050 target.

Hapag-Lloyd currently represents 7% of the global TEU capacity. Together with GCMD founding partner ONE, the two companies represent a significant 13% of the world’s total TEU capacity.

With both Hapag-Lloyd and ONE onboard, the centre expects greater proliferation of its findings towards actual deployment, amplifying the overall impact of GCMD’s decarbonisaton efforts.

Headquartered in Hamburg, Hapag-Lloyd also brings geographical diversity to GCMD and can facilitate stronger interactions within the European and German ecosystems. This partnership also adds $10M in funding, giving a further boost to GCMD’s efforts in conducting pilots and trials.

In welcoming the centre’s first strategic partner since its founding on 1 August 2021, Professor Lynn Loo, CEO of the Global Centre for Maritime Decarbonisation said:

“Shipping is a hard-to-abate sector and to reach the IMO’s climate change goals, collaboration across the value chain is required. Hapag-Lloyd is a forward-leaning organisation and has a strong presence in the container shipping business.”

“With strong commitment and ambition, the participation of Hapag-Lloyd as a strategic partner will allow both organisations to share knowledge, build on existing initiatives and provide additional resources for pilots and trials.”

“Through our strategic partnership with the Global Centre for Decarbonisation … we will combine our efforts towards climate-neutral shipping. I am very honored to be welcomed to the board of the GCMD,” Rolf Habben Jansen, CEO of Hapag-Lloyd, commented.

“Sustainability is an essential part of Hapag-Lloyd’s corporate strategy, with decarbonisation playing a key role. We look forward to this partnership and to jointly making progress in decarbonising the maritime industry.”

In late 2020 and mid-2021, the company ordered a dozen of new ultra large container vessels (ULCVs) from from South Korean shipyard Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME). The twelve 23,500+ TEU ships will be fitted with fuel-efficient high-pressure dual-fuel engines, that will operate on LNG, but they will have alternatively sufficient tank capacity to operate on conventional fuel. Once delivered, the dual-fuel newbuilds will contribute to Hapag-Lloyd’s decarbonization goals.

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