With climate change responsibility becoming more prominent in the plans of key maritime players, container carriers are expected to actively demonstrate their performance in the field. Not only to comply with IMO and EU regulations but also to meet the expectation of their customers.

Shipping analyst and expert Lars Jensen called on shippers to carefully look at and compare the decarbonisation impact of their chosen carrier. In a recent opinion piece written for Shipping Watch, Jensen laid out a number of hypothetical scenarios that carriers could use to showcase the impact of their efforts.

Being owner of a range of zero-carbon methanol vessels, Maersk has the capacity to establish an entirely carbon-free service, says Jensen. Meanwhile, MSC - while lacking the zero-emission capacity Maersk has - is owner of the largest orderbook to date. Some of the newbuilds are LNG-powered, which would reduce emissions across the carrier's entire fleet.

As for the third largest carrier in the world, Jensen claims CMA CGM could choose to delegate another carrier for an intra-Europe service, for example, instead of bearing the responsibility of this service's carbon emissions. This approach helps carriers reduce their carbon footprint, as they would only be responsible for the vessels they operate.

Jensen stressed that all of the proposed hypotheses are "perfectly valid and sound", especially since carriers are likely to adopt multiple approaches. Nevertheless, he says shippers have to “look behind the curtain” and not “compare headline statements from the different carriers directly.”