Ocean Transportation
Sustainability
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Read our latest decarbonization report: Navigating toward a clearer horizonCargill Ocean Transportation | Decarbonization Report 2023 |
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Making ocean shipping more sustainable is core to our purpose as a business. More than 80% of international trade by volume is moved by sea, which means ocean shipping is the backbone of the global economy. It’s also already one of the most efficient forms of moving goods in terms of emissions per tonne of product, yet we know we can keep improving it. Every day and in everything we do, we are working to make shipping safer and more responsible with less impact on the environment – across both our operations and the wider maritime industry.
Lowering Scope 3 emissions from ocean shipping
At a time when many different types of technology are being tested to drive sustainability, Cargill Ocean Transportation is taking bold action to help lead the transformation across our industry. We are trialing new technologies and scaling biofuels while working closely with customers and other partners to pioneer broader ways forward.
We are doing that because there are still big challenges in front of our industry. Decarbonizing ocean shipping will take several decades with everyone in the industry playing a role. But if we put in place solutions available now, while also continuing to work on next-generation technologies, fuels and vessel designs, together we can transform the maritime industry and dramatically reduce Scope 3 emissions.
Every day, we are:
- Collaborating with customers to help them understand their carbon footprints and ways to reduce Scope 3 emissions.
- Working with ship owners to upgrade vessels, making them more energy efficient while also improving maritime safety.
- Playing an active role in exploring the market mechanisms that will incentivize steady decarbonization without disrupting global trade flows.
- Experimenting with innovative solutions like the WindWings® sails and other wind-assisted propulsion that can significantly reduce maritime CO2 emissions.
There is much work to do across the industry to achieve the sharp emissions declines needed in the 2030s to meet the revised strategy of the International Maritime Organization (IMO). We have a long way to go, but we can see the horizon and how to get there.
How we are reducing emissions today
Reducing emissions across the shipping industry will take decades, but we can already make headway toward our goals by using solutions that are available today.
If we’re smart about working together across our industry, we can start reducing fuel usage, costs and carbon emissions right away.
Cargill Ocean Transportation is leading the way with innovative wind-assisted propulsion, green methanol fuel and sustainable biofuels. And we are pioneering a broad range of other solutions with our partners. Here are some examples:
Aligning on climate goals:
The Sea Cargo Charter (SCC) brings together the world’s largest charterers of cargo ships with the aim of reducing the climate impact of the shipping industry. We played a leading role in the SCC’s founding in 2020. The organization provides a transparent, shared disclosure framework, based on a linear decarbonization trajectory aligned with the IMO’s revised strategy of reducing shipping’s greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by around 2050. Using the SCC’s published methodology, members assess their fleets’ carbon intensity annually against the SCC benchmark trajectory.
Advancing a range of solutions:
We invested in ZeroNorth, a provider of voyage, vessel and bunker optimization software, to accelerate the use of digital solutions that decarbonize shipping. In 2023, nearly all of our time-chartered voyages used ZeroNorth’s technology, which is helping ZeroNorth refine its models and benefiting other users of the platform as well. We also work closely with ship owners and other key stakeholders to invest in and pilot new technologies and fuels. This includes everything from installing energy-saving devices on our time-chartered vessels to experimenting with wind-assisted propulsion to ordering ships that run on methanol.
Cutting emissions through parceling:
This year, we continued making progress in reducing emissions through parceling, which enables us to use bigger ships and maximize freight output. On parceling voyages, we have measured up to 20% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions and a corresponding improvement in their Energy Efficiency Operational Indicator (EEOI). This is an important measurement tool established by the IMO.
Improving maritime safety
We are deeply committed to sending our own employees home safe every day. And although we do not employ the crews on our chartered ships, we are concerned for their physical and psychological welfare, as well as other seafarers across the industry. We are taking action to drive improvements throughout ocean shipping.
We are a longtime shareholder in RightShip, which focuses on safety, sustainability and socially responsible practices. We strive to always select vessels for our time-charter fleet that are scored in RightShip’s highest categories for safety. We also lead efforts with the RightShip coalition to advocate more broadly for policies that that protect seafarers’ physical and mental well-being.
- We carefully select our ship owner partners and operators with safety as the highest priority. We do not tolerate non-compliance of Maritime Labor Convention regulations, and we expect all our partners to stand with us in prioritizing crew safety and well-being.
- During the COVID-19 pandemic, we instituted a practice of tracking how long crews have been aboard our chartered ships and took steps to switch out crews whose time aboard was above the 11-month standard. And we were a founding signatory of the Neptune Declaration on Seafarer Wellbeing and Crew Change, leading efforts for the industry and governments to address this issue.
- We support Human Rights at Sea, a non-profit organization with a global mission to end human rights abuses at sea.
- We worked with DNV Maritime, The Seafarers’ Charity and Mission to Seafarers to fund the development of a free-to-download app that makes it easier for seafarers to access services to improve their welfare and mental health, especially while at sea.
Diversity in maritime shipping
In addition to the commitments to diversity, equity and inclusion in our own workforce, we advocate for greater diversity in the maritime industry. This includes work to raise gender create pathways forward for women in maritime shipping.
- We are active members of industry associations like the Women’s International Shipping & Trading Association.
- In 2017, we co-signed the All Aboard Alliance, an initiative of the Global Maritime Forum, which brings together senior industry leaders to drive progress toward a more diverse, equitable and inclusive maritime industry.
- We are one of several companies taking part in the Diversity@Sea pilot to make life at sea more inclusive and attractive to all seafarers. We are participating in the pilot with Neda Maritime using the vessel Mv. Chloe.
Recognition of our work
We are proud of our team’s dedication to driving sustainability across ocean shipping. Here are some recent awards that acknowledge that work.
- In January 2024, Cargill was recognized for R&D leadership with a 2024 Business Intelligence Group (BIG) Innovation Award. The product category was awarded to Cargill’s and BAR Technology’s groundbreaking WindWings sails.
- In October 2022, Cargill Ocean Transportation received the NAMEPA Marine Environment Protection award for our contribution to preserving the marine environment.
- In September 2022, Cargill Ocean Transportation President Jan Dieleman received the 2022 Capital Link Maritime Sustainability Award for his contribution to the industry’s sustainability.
Our partnerships
Making maritime shipping more sustainable, safer and more diverse will be a monumental task extending over the coming decades. We are committed to helping lead the effort, but we know that no one organization can do it alone. Ship owners, ship builders, charterers, port operators, policymakers, NGOs and other stakeholders all have an important role to play.
That’s why we work across a broad coalition of partners to pool the best thinking and catalyze progress. This, combined with our internal efforts and our work directly with our customers and ship owners, will help keep us on the pathway toward a sustainable future for shipping.
Explore our progress through the years
Decarbonizing shipping is not a linear process, and neither is Cargill’s approach toward meeting the 2050 IMO revised strategy, with short-, medium- and long-term goals.
Learn about Cargill Ocean Transportation’s decarbonization journey by exploring our annual decarbonization reports.
A catalyst for positive change
Cargill Ocean Transportation | Decarbonization Report 2022