Ocean Health and Biodiversity

Cargill is committed to protecting ocean health and biodiversity by working closely with our suppliers to minimize the impact of our operations on the marine ecosystem.

Oceans play a critical role in stablizing climate and supporting life and human well-being. They are a resource that needs to be protected and supported, yet the continually growing population inceases the impact of harmful stressors. This includes pollution from activities related to ocean transportation.

As a vessel charterer, Cargill does not own or crew its vessels. We therefore work with our shipowner partners and other suppliers to reduce the environmental impact of our operations within the scope of our ability. We foccus on influencing control over accidents and spills, waste management, and the use of exhaust gas cleaning systems (also known as scrubbers). 

Last year, we recorded zero oil spills of 10m3 or more and zero other incidents causing material negative environmental impact. We continue to improve our incident tracking and reporting procedure and our Safety Officer captures and follows up with each incident to avoid reoccurence. We also distribute our Cargill Supplier Code of Conduct to all suppliers and partners on contract for more than one year and emphasize the need to the law and maritime industry regulations at all time.

On January 1, 2020, the IMO's Global Sulphur Cap was enforced. To comply with the new sulphur regulations, the majority of our fleet is operating using the low sulphur compliant fuels. The remaining approximate 10% of our fleet have been retrofitted with scrubbers. We are closely following industry updates about the efiiciency and safety of scrubbers and are confident in the latest reports that confirm that scrubbers have minimal impact on ocean health.

The Northern Sea Route (NSR) is a shipping lane between the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean and, during the favorable ice season, provides an alternative shipping “short-cut” between Europe and Asia. The route is attracting increasing industry discussion and a number of trial voyages have been conducted by leading maritime players. Cargill recognizes that the Arctic route presents an alternative shipping route with certain efficiency gains (reduced transportation time and fuel consumption), but there are currently too many unknown factors and potential dangers to the natural ecosystem to make this a viable option for our dry and wet bulk cargo shipping business.

Read more about our 2020 targets for ocean health and biodiversity and our progress to date.