Silversea Cruises, an ultra-luxury brand owned by the Royal Caribbean Group, will introduce its next generation cruise ship in the summer of 2023, becoming possibly the first large-scale installation of hydrogen fuel cells for cruise ships. The first of three cruise ships to be built for the brand at Meyer Werft in Germany, the ships will feature a hybrid power plant combining the hydrogen fuel cells with batteries and dual-fuel engines using LNG.

ARIES GROUP CEO Dr. Sohan Roy announced the company’s “Green vision” and setting up of a Green fund to aid the shipping industry’s efforts to promote sustainability and decarbonisation.

In the latest initiative aimed at decarbonizing ocean shipping, nine major retailers and consumer companies, including Amazon, Ikea, Michelin, and Unilever, announced that they are signing a pledge to switch all of their ocean freight to vessels powered by zero-carbon fuels by 2040. The Cargo Owners for Zero Emission Vessels (coZEV), organized by the non-profit Aspen Institute, said the initiative is designed to send an important demand signal to the maritime value chain and bunker fuel producers that freight customers want zero-carbon shipping. Today’s announcement, they said, is intended to heighten a sense of urgency and increase confidence in the investment opportunity presented by zero-carbon shipping.

In opening remarks delivered for the UN Global Sustainable Transport Conference in Beijing, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres had tough words for the shipping industry and its progress on decarbonization.

For the third time in just two months, A.P. Moller – Maersk, the parent company of the shipping giant, has invested in a developmental company working on alternative fuels as part of the company’s efforts to become a leader in the decarbonize the shipping industry. These investments, made through Maersk Growth, the corporate venture segment of the company, highlight the addition of the green fuels category as an additional sub-investment theme under the company’s overall umbrella of supply chain investments.

September ends with an important milestone of the Panama Canal towards decarbonization. The Panama Canal and more than 150 other organizations across the maritime value chain signed an industry-led call for world leaders to commit to decarbonizing international shipping by 2050. The leaders are going to support industrial scale zero emission shipping projects through national action and deliver the policy measures that will make zero emission shipping the default choice by 2030.

The shipping industry is under pressure to decrease its carbon missions as part of the broader drive by global governments to address the risks posed by climate change.

A rapid replacement of fossil fuels with renewable fuels based on green hydrogen along with advanced biofuels could enable to cut up to 80 percent of CO2 emissions by mid-century attributed to the international maritime sector. That is the assessment of a new report released by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), an intergovernmental agency focused on supporting countries in their transition to a sustainable energy future. By 2050, 

Efforts are continuing to build the infrastructure required to support the emergence of ammonia as an alternative energy source for maritime and other industries. As the latest step in building the supply chain, Horisont Energi, which is planning blue ammonia production in the northern reaches of Norway, will work with liquid bulk storage company Koole Terminals on the development of a terminal and storage facility at the Port of Rotterdam.

Höegh Autoliners, one of the largest providers of RoRo transportation services, took another step forward on its plan to introduce an innovative class of new car carriers. The vessels, which would be the largest car carriers yet built are also being promoted as the “most environmentally friendly car carrier ever built.”