(SPLASH)China Navigation is to sign for a revolutionary sail-assisted newbuild this month as part of a package of green measures announced today.
The Swire subsidiary has also come out in favour of the proposal put forward to the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) by the Marshall Islands and the Solomon Islands to establish a universal, mandatory greenhouse gas (GHG) levy with an entry price of US$100 per tonne/CO2e with regular upward ratchets following review.
China Navigation’s subsidiary Swire Shipping serves many communities in the Pacific and is acutely aware of how it is these small island nations that are demanding the greatest environmental changes to shipping.
“With many communities at risk of disappearing we must take action to drive change. We are committed to reducing our GHG footprint, ultimately to net zero by, and preferably well before, 2050,” commented James Woodrow, managing director of China Navigation.
China Navigation believes that the upstream development of the necessary global delivery infrastructure for sustainable low or zero carbon fuels will be expedited if market-based measures are introduced that more realistically price shipping’s GHG emissions.
Swire Shipping is launching a carbon offset programme for clients called Sail Greener in the coming months.
Meanwhile, China Navigation is pressing ahead with Project Cerulean, seeking to build the first low-carbon, low-cost sail-assisted inter-island cargo vessel to serve communities in the Pacific that lack cargo handling infrastructure.
The company aims to sign a newbuild contract for this pilot vessel this month for delivery in the middle of next year.
“The Pacific Islands’ communities are relying on organisations such as ours to provide leadership and to take positive action now,” commented Jeremy Sutton, general manager, Swire Shipping.
The carbon tax proposal put forward by the Solomon Islands and the Marshall Islands will be discussed at the IMO’s Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) gathering later this month.
Related: Sailing into the future- the decarbonisation agenda