Red Sea crisis causes 45% surge in container ship emissions

Red Sea crisis causes 45% surge in container ship emissions

The rerouting of vessels south of Africa due to Houthi attacks has led to a dramatic increase in CO2 emissions from container shipping, reversing years of progress in reducing the industry's carbon footprint

by Manal Barakat, SeaNewsEditor


The crisis in the Red Sea, which began over 1.5 years ago, has significantly impacted container ship journeys and, consequently, vessel emissions.

 

A recent Sea-Intelligence report shows that vessel emissions surged by 45% last year compared to expected levels.

 

This increase is attributed to vessels rerouting south of Africa, bypassing the Suez Canal, due to attacks by the Houthi militia in Yemen.

 

According to Sea-Intelligence, the longer journeys led to a dramatic rise in CO2 emissions from container shipping within the European Union, as reported under the EU Monitoring, Reporting, and Verification (MRV) regulations.

 

Sea-Intelligence's analysis highlights a stark contrast between the consistent decline in CO2 emissions from 2018 to 2023 and the unprecedented spike in 2024.

 

Despite an increase in container volumes, container vessels successfully reduced their emissions by an average of 4.4% annually from 2018 to 2023.

 

However, the Red Sea crisis reversed years of progress, with emissions from container shipping reaching 52.7 million tonnes in 2024, compared to a hypothetical 34.7 million tonnes if the crisis had not occurred.

 

Alan Murphy, Chief Executive Officer of Sea-Intelligence, stated, "If, purely hypothetically, we assumed there was never a Red Sea crisis and that the container lines would again in 2024 have reduced their total emissions by 4.4%, this would have led to total emissions of 34.7 million tonnes in 2024."

 

Instead, the reality was emissions of 52.7 million tonnes. The additional 18 million tonnes of CO2 emissions in 2024, attributed to the round-Africa routing, are comparable to Cambodia's carbon emissions.

 

While the overall shipping sector saw a 10% rise in CO2 emissions, the impact on container shipping has been disproportionately severe.

 

The Red Sea crisis has not had a measurable impact on other shipping segments, as no major increase in emissions was recorded for these segments in 2024.

Source: Shipping Telegraph, Shipping Watch, Sea-Intelligence