Maersk and MSC: Shipping's Path to Decarbonisation

The international shipping industry, which facilitates approximately 80% of global trade, is at a crucial turning point.

According to the World Bank, it generates around 3% of the world's greenhouse gas emissions, a figure that would make it the sixth-largest emitter if it were a country.

In response, industry leaders and regulators are navigating a complex path toward decarbonisation, with major implications for the global energy market.

At the COP28 climate conference, shipping chief executives united to call for a definitive end date for the construction of new vessels powered solely by fossil fuels.

They urged the International Maritime Organization (IMO) to establish the necessary regulatory environment to accelerate the transition to green fuels.

This call to action was followed by the approval of a landmark net-zero framework by the IMO’s Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) in April 2025, which is anticipated to be formally adopted in October 2025 and come into force by 2027.

IMO regulation and carbon pricing

The IMO's framework introduces two primary measures for all oceangoing ships over 5,000 gross tonnes: a global fuel standard and a pricing mechanism for greenhouse gas emissions.

The fuel standard will progressively limit the pollution intensity of marine fuels, while the pricing mechanism is expected to apply a carbon price, potentially around US$100 per tonne of CO₂ equivalent, to incentivise emissions reduction.

A ship’s emissions will be quantified using a greenhouse gas fuel intensity (GFI) metric, measuring emissions across the entire fuel lifecycle.

Not everyone agrees. In late January 2025, a group of countries including Brazil, China and South Africa sent a letter to IMO warning of negative trade impacts from a universal GHG contribution. 

In April 2025, the United States withdrew from the carbon pricing talks and urged others to follow. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said in a statement that US President Donald Trump’s administration will “not accept any international environmental agreement that unduly or unfairly burdens the United States or harms the interests of the American people” and described the IMO’s framework as “effectively a global carbon tax on Americans levied by an unaccountable UN organisation”. “Our fellow IMO members should be on notice that we will look for their support against this action and not hesitate to retaliate or explore remedies for our citizens should this endeavour fail,” the statement concludes.

On the launch of the 2025 American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) Sustainability Outlook, ABS CEO Christopher Wiernicki said that “shipping and the IMO are on different trajectories”. “There is no clear pathway for green fuel availability and scalability and infrastructure support,” he said. “LNG and biofuels are mission critical to any success and should not be overlooked, over penalised or discarded in the net zero regulation. Quite frankly, achieving net zero for shipping by 2050 looks like a wildcard.”

Hapag-Lloyd’s sustainability strategy

Hapag-Lloyd’s overarching sustainability goal is to reach net zero fleet operations by 2045. 

“We have advanced our decarbonisation efforts by adding new, state-of-the-art vessels to our fleet, placing additional newbuild orders and accelerating our fleet upgrade programme,” says CEO Rolf Habben Jansen in its 2024 Sustainability Progress Report. 

The company’s Fleet Upgrade programme, launched in 2022, aims to improve the efficiency and environmental performance of its ships. It has also ordered 24 large container ships that will be built in China and equipped with “state-of-the-art, low-emission and fuel-efficient high-pressure liquefied gas dual-fuel engines”. 

Rolf explains in the report: “Our sustainability journey continues. Building a just, safe and clean industry is an ongoing responsibility and requires continuous collaboration between industry stakeholders.” 

Sustainability at Maersk

Maersk aims to reach net zero by 2040, and its strategy includes introducing the world’s first large dual-fuel methanol fleet. In December 2024 it completed an order of 20 dual-fuel owned vessels with a total capacity of 300,000 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs).

The company says that dual-fuel vessels are central to its decarbonisation plans, capable of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 65% to 90% through the use of bio- and e-methanol compared to conventional fossil fuels. Maersk also aims to deploy dual-fuel liquefied methane vessels, aiming to use bio- or e-methane as soon as possible. 

“Let's get this done,” says Lene Bjørn Serpa, Director, Head of Corporate Sustainability at Maersk on LinkedIn. “We have the technology and the willingness - we just need the clear regulatory framework to accelerate the energy transition in the shipping industry.”

MSC’s sustainability impact

MSC says that it is committed to an energy transition targeting net zero decarbonisation by 2050 and is investing in a massive newbuilding programme and far-reaching retrofit plan. 

MSC has signed an MoU with integrated energy company Eni to explore the potential use of LNG alongside lower-carbon energy carriers such as HVO and bio-LNG. This is alongside offering its customers a Biofuel Solution, a certified carbon insetting programme designed to reduce emissions and contribute to accelerating decarbonisation in the shipping industry. 

On the release of its Sustainability Report, MSC CEO Soren said: “With the MSC family’s talent, passion and entrepreneurial spirit we are contributing to the net zero transition and building value chain resilience. Through collaboration, investment and innovation, we will navigate these challenges together.”

Read the full feature in Issue 57 of Sustainability Magazine.