MARITIME

CURRENT NEWS

Canary Media

The race is on to build the world’s first ammonia-powered ship

By Maria Gallucci 11/10/22

Ammonia is predicted to become the leading fuel source for the world’s giant cargo ships by 2050. Yet no vessel actually runs on the pungent, carbonless compound today. In labs and shipyards around the world,…

Bloomberg

Bill Gates-led Fund Backs Methanol as Green Fuel for Global Shipping

By Will Mathis and Others 08/30/22

Green fuels and new engines to consume them could help limit climate-warming emissions from giant ships that keep the world economy moving.

braydengmedium.com

Electric Ships Are Ready For Action

By Brayden Gerrard 08/24/22

The electric car revolution has spread to water as ships all over the world are turning green

Time

We’re Gonna Need a Greener Boat

By Alejandro De La Garza 06/23/22

Container ships transport just about everything. The world wants more of all of it. So the ships are getting bigger, as are the shipping channels, port complexes, and loading cranes. “All over the world they’re…

Canary Media

This electric speedboat is fast, quiet, clean — and pricey

By Maria Gallucci 06/15/22

Arc, whose team includes former SpaceX engineers, raised $30 million in venture capital financing last year to set up its first production run in Los Angeles, where the startup is based. The company began accepting…

The Washington Post

Ship pollution is rising as the U.S. waits for world leaders to act

By Anna Phillips 06/06/22

When the first American-made lake freighter built in more than 35 years launched in Sturgeon Bay, Wis., last year, the 639-foot ship was outfitted for the future. The M/V Mark W. Barker’s larger hatch openings…

Axios

Putting a charge in the gas-guzzling power boat industry

By Joann Muller 03/03/22

A team of former Space-X engineers and boating enthusiasts is aiming to transform recreational boating with a new speedboat that zips across the water on electricity instead of gas or diesel fuel.

Popular Science

How floating power ports could help cargo ships cut their air pollution

By Erik Olsen 01/28/22

The pandemic has exposed serious weaknesses in the global supply chain, causing a backup of cargo ships in seaports around the world. While consumers have experienced rising prices and severe delivery delays, the problem has…

Canary Media

Amazon invests in ammonia fuel tech to curb cargo ship emissions

By Maria Gallucci 12/22/21

Major U.S. retailers have pledged to curb their supply-chain emissions by powering warehouses with renewable energy and replacing diesel vans and trucks with electric vehicles. But when it comes to using greener ships to import…

Gizmodo

Giant Kite Will Pull a Ship Across the Ocean Next Month

By Molly Taft 12/17/21

Starting in January, a huge boat will attach itself to an enormous kite in a first-of-its-kind test to try and alleviate harmful carbon emissions from toting stuff to and fro across the high seas.

The Washington Post

22 countries agreed to establish green shipping routes. That’s big news.

By Jan Stockbruegger 11/30/21

COP26 didn’t produce the big breakthroughs for climate change that many had hoped. Yet for maritime shipping, the U.N. Climate Change Conference was a major success.

KEY RESOURCES

Industry group backs global carbon price for large ships

09/06/21

A major maritime industry association on Monday backed plans for a global surcharge on carbon emissions from shipping to help fund the sector’s shift toward climate-friendly fuels.

Treehugger

Electric Vessels Are Not Enough to Slash Shipping Emissions

09/02/21

An autonomous electric cargo ship is slated to make its maiden voyage this year, but the vessel represents just one baby step in the long road toward reducing shipping emissions.

Triplepundit

In San Diego, an All-Electric Tugboat Eyes a 2023 Debut

07/20/21

The first fully electric harbor tugboat will soon serve the Port of San Diego. Crowley Maritime Corporation will build and operate the tug, which will be operational by mid-2023. Instead of fuel, the eWolf will reportedly source its power…

Pacificenvironment.org

Shady Ships: Retail Giants Pollute Communities and Climate with Fossil-Fueled Ocean Shipping

07/20/21

Just fifteen companies are responsible for emitting millions of tons of pollution from importing their goods into the United States on fossil-fueled ships. Our report Shady Ships: Retail Giants Pollute Communities and Climate with Fossil-Fueled Ocean…

Wall Street Journal

Panama Canal Tackles Climate-Change Puzzle: Too Little Rainwater or Too Much

06/28/21

The Panama Canal faces a creeping threat from climate change, including droughts so intense that ships sometimes reduce their cargo so as not to run aground, and giant storms that almost overwhelm its dams and…

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MORE NEWS

CNBC

Amazon’s new net-zero carbon pledge is focused on the oceans, as shipping giants pursue alternative fuels

By Alicia Doniger 10/19/21

Amazon and IKEA are among the major companies pushing the ocean shipping industry to adopt zero-carbon fuel sources for vessels by 2040. Marine shipping accounts for 1 billion tons of carbon emissions per year, according…

Yale Climate Connections

Maritime shipping causes more greenhouse gases than airlines

By YCC team 08/02/21

Ships transport more than 10 billion metric tons of cargo each year, including clothing, electronics, and oil. Almost all of these ships run on fossil fuels, so they emit a lot of carbon pollution. Maritime…

The Verge

Walmart, Ikea, and Amazon have a dirty shipping problem

By Justine Calma 07/20/21

Giant retailers, including Amazon and Ikea, have pledged to go green, but their shipping is still pretty dirty. Now shoppers can now see how much pollution some of the biggest retail companies in the US…

NRDC

Climate Art Sets Sail for the Poles

By Clara Chaisson 07/16/21

There’s a lot to consider when curating an art exhibit that showcases more than 50 artists working across diverse media including drawings, paintings, videos, sculptures, and soundscapes. Now imagine doing it on a ship bound…

Grist

A proposal to make cargo ships pay for pollution is making waves

By Maria Gallucci 07/07/21

Thousands of cargo ships cross the oceans every single day, carrying everything from cars and clothing to plastic pellets and garden gnomes while their giant engines pump greenhouse gases into the air. The shipping industry…

The Maritime Executive

Cargo Ships, Climate Change and a Can-Do Approach

By Susan Hayman 07/06/21

The daunting challenges of the maritime industry as it contends with climate change will arguably be the most important we have ever faced. We are at a serious inflection point, and I am grateful President…

WSJ

Panama Canal Tackles Climate-Change Puzzle: Too Little Rainwater or Too Much

By Santiago Perez 06/28/21

The New York Times

Can Massive Cargo Ships Use Wind to Go Green?

By Aurora Almendral 06/28/21

In 2011, Gavin Allwright was living in a village outside Fukushima, Japan, with his wife and three children, when a powerful tsunami destroyed the coastline, splintering homes into debris, crashing a 150-foot fishing boat into…

IEEE SPECTRUM

Michelin Puts Puffy Sails on Cargo Ships

By Maria Gallucci 06/25/21

The white sailboat outside of Michelin Group’s Swiss office doesn’t have a sail at all. Instead, it has a wing. The puffy, inflatable structure towers over the vessel, resembling an enormous meringue with a spine…

The New York Times Magazine

Can Massive Cargo Ships Use Wind to Go Green?

By Aurora Almendral 06/24/21

S&P Global

Your climate change goals may have a maritime shipping problem

By Esther Whieldon 06/03/21

The international cargo and container shipping industry plays a central role in global supply chains, but until recently has made few inroads toward decarbonization. That needs to change if the world is going to achieve…

Forbes

Calls For Global Shipping To Ditch Fossil Fuels And Meet Climate Goals

By Nishan Degnarain 09/25/20

At UN Climate Week this week, calls have increased for shipping to urgently ditch fossil fuels to meet the planet’s climate goals. The global shipping industry remains weakly regulated and is significantly off course to…