Wallenius Wilhelmsen: CO2 intensity target achieved in 2023

Norwegian shipping and logistic company Wallenius Wilhelmsen has updated its progress on emissions targets and performance related to its sustainability-linked financing framework established in 2022.

In 2023, Wallenius Wilhelmsen met its CO2 intensity target. The company revealed that the emission performance improved due to a range of initiatives undertaken to improve energy efficiency onboard vessels and reduce the fleet’s emissions.

Furthermore, Wallenius Wilhelmsen expanded the portfolio of possible vessel upgrades in line with its strategic ambition to intensify efforts in this critical area.

The chosen KPI for the framework is the fleet-weighted average CO2 intensity. In 2023 the KPI ended at 5.54 gCO2 per GT.nm compared to the target of 5.56 gCO2 per GT.nm, reduced from 5.89 gCO2 per GT.nm in 2022, according to Wallenius Wilhelmsen.

The effect of reaching the target is a reduction in interest cost of 5 to 10 basis points for the following 12-month period related to drawn amounts under $875 million of sustainability-linked bank loans. It has no impact on the pricing of the issued sustainability-linked bonds, where the performance measurement will be done at the end of the last fiscal year prior to maturity, the firm noted.

“Our ambition is to lead the transformation of shipping and logistics, and our emission targets are embedded in the company strategy. I am pleased to note that we delivered on our targets despite trade disruptions, port congestion and general supply-chain upsets. Going forward, we will continue to systematically cut emissions and deliver on our recently introduced goal to reach net-zero emissions in 2040,” Lasse Kristoffersen, CEO and President at Wallenius Wilhelmsen, said.

As part of its decarbonization agenda, the shipowner recently joined the First Movers Coalition, the world’s largest public-private partnership working to scale the most critical, emerging climate technologies required to decarbonize the heavy-emitting sectors.

Biofuel has become an integrated part of the company’s fuel mix. During 2023 Wallenius Wilhelmsen successfully began bunkering B30 biofuel blend products on several vessels.

In November 2023, vehicles carrier M/V Torrens was the first vessel operated by the firm to bunker B30 high sulphur fuel oil (HSFO) biofuel while calling Masan Port, South Korea.

In 2024, the firm anticipates that biofuel will replace more than ten percent of its total fuel consumption.

“Quickly becoming an important element in many contract discussions, we expect demand to continue to grow amongst customers increasingly looking to reduce their Scope 3 CO2 emissions. B30 contains 30 percent biofuel feedstock and 70 percent conventional fuel and brings approximately 25 percent lower CO2e emissions than conventional fuel,” the company noted.

Last year, the company also placed orders for the construction of up to twelve methanol dual-fuel pure car and truck carriers (PCTCs).

Wallenius Wilhelmsen has set a strategy to maintain a fleet of 125-135 vessels, and new vessels are an integral part of the fleet strategy, and the key to accelerating the company’s journey towards net-zero emissions.