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International Transport Forum News

09 Jun 2023

Jobs at Stake as California Port Terminal Upgrades to Green Technology

© 2ragon / Adobe Stock

Unions hope a $30 million grant to electrify tractors in a Long Beach, California, port terminal's final push to become the world's first zero-emissions facility will serve as a bulwark against lost jobs in an era of energy transition and increasing automation. The money from U.S. President Joe Biden's administration for Long Beach Container Terminal's purchase of 60 electric yard tractors that haul shipping containers from stacks to waiting trains comes with strings attached


22 Aug 2019

APAC Marine Coatings Market to Hit $12Bln in 2024

The marine coatings market demand by 2024 will rise exponentially driven by rapid surge in trade activities worldwide has led to increase demand from the shipbuilding sector.APAC marine coatings market valuation to hit $12Billion by 2024. According to International Marine Organization (IMO), over 90% of global trades are conducted via ships.Meanwhile, the International Transport Forum (ITF) Outlook 2019 estimates that the global freight volumes are likely to increase by 11% by 2050 owing to rapid growth in e-commerce activities.Asia Pacific marine coatings market is expected to witness commendable growth on account of presence of leading shipbuilding industries as well as increasing freight demands from e-commerce giants.China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation


19 Nov 2018

Shipping Emission to Increase Up to 250% by 2050, ITF Warns

Maritime transport emitted 938 million tonnes of CO2 in 2012. This represented 2.6% of total global carbon emissions, said International Transport Forum (ITF)By 2050, shipping CO2 emissions are projected to increase between 50% and 250% if no drastic action is taken, the forum warned.In order to reverse this trajectory, the 174 member states of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) adopted an “Initial IMO Strategy on reduction of Greenhouse Gas emissions from ships” (or “Initial Strategy” for short) in April 2018.The Initial Strategy’s declared aim is to phase out greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from shipping “as soon as possible in this century”.

27 Oct 2018

Maritime's Push Toward "Net Zero Carbon"

IMO’s 2050 deadline to reduce GHG emissions 50% from 2008 levels has set off a gold rush to develop Zero Emissions SolutionsClimate change is the biggest issue facing [all aspects of] the maritime industry, said Kitak Lim, IMO secretary general, in an interview earlier this year with Maritime Reporter & Engineering News. He predicted that shipping could experience as much change in the next 10 to 20 years as it has in the last 100 years, as the industry races to meet a number of challenges


09 Apr 2018

IMO Under Pressure to Tackle CO2 Emissions

The United Nations' shipping agency is under pressure this week to agree on a plan to cut carbon emissions from the sector, following years of slow progress, but the strategy could fall well short of what is required to limit global warming. The shipping sector, along with aviation, avoided specific emissions cut targets in a global climate pact agreed at the end of 2015, which aims to limit a global average rise in temperature to "well below" 2 degrees Celsius from 2020. Shipping accounts for 2.2 percent of world CO2 emissions, according to the International Maritime Organization (IMO), the U.N. agency responsible for regulating pollution from ships.

03 Apr 2018

Pacific Calls For Decarbonising Shipping By 2050

In a comprehensive analysis of what is needed to decarbonise international shipping by 2035, the report recommends setting a clear, ambitious emissions-reduction target to drive decarbonisation of maritime transport, supporting the realization of emissions-reduction targets with a comprehensive set of policy measures and providing smart financial incentives to advance the decarbonisation of maritime shipping. “The OECD report, closely followed by the call of the European Shippers Association for a target of decarbonisation by 2035, vindicates our Pacific member states’ principled stance on the IMO debate on shipping emission reduction.

30 Mar 2018

Shipping Industry Sells Out on Paris Agreement

A call by the shipping industry  for governments to compromise on ambition ahead of key UN discussions to reduce maritime emissions actually abandons the goals of the Paris agreement, sustainable transport group Transport & Environment (T&E) has said. It was referring to a statement from International Chamber of Shipping. The International Maritime Organisation (IMO) meets from 3-13 April to adopt an initial greenhouse gas (GHG) strategy for the shipping sector. Faig Abbasov, shipping officer with T&E, said: “The April negotiations are the last chance for the member states of the IMO and the shipping sector to respond to the Paris agreement’s goal of global warming not exceeding 1.5ºC.

27 Mar 2018

Report: Decarbonize Maritime by 2035

© denisismagilov/AdobeStock

While the notion that maritime transport could be "zero-carbon shipping" by 2035 may seem fallacy to the majority, a new report reviews the pathways to zero-carbon shipping. According to a  new report published by the International Transport Forum at the OECD, deployment of all currently known technologies could make it possible to almost completely decarbonize maritime shipping by 2035. While the report targets 2035, a recent interview with Angus Frew, Secretary General of BIMCO


18 Mar 2018

Sweden: A Pioneering Nation in Green Shipping

Sweden is a role model for the global shipping community, and other countries have a great deal to learn from the work being done by the Swedish shipping industry to reduce emissions. This is one of the findings in a new report – Decarbonising Maritime Transport: The Case of Sweden – where efforts aimed at bringing about a greener shipping sector in Sweden are described as a “success story”. OECD’s International Transport Forum (ITF) published a new report –  Decarbonising Maritime Transport: The Case of Sweden. The report examines the various elements which it is stated have put Swedish shipping firmly at the forefront environmentally. “We are extremely proud that Swedish shipping has been highlighted in this way by such an eminent organisation.

21 Oct 2016

Container Shipping Industry Calls for Climate Action

Members of BSR’s Clean Cargo Working Group (CCWG) have agreed on a climate action statement and call to action for the container shipping sector and its value chain to support private-sector contributions for the global goals on climate change. Today, CCWG includes ocean container shipping lines representing about 85 percent of global volume and more than a dozen key cargo owners. The CCWG member statement reflects an aspiration for container shipping to play its role in limiting global temperature increase to well below 2˚C, acknowledges its part as a low-carbon freight solution and partner in emissions reductions, and calls on other global freight transport stakeholders for ambitious action on emissions reductions.

26 Sep 2016

On the Majestic Maersk, mega-ship dreams obscure cloudy future

For Captain Dick S. Danielsen, the childhood dream has been to sail the world's biggest ships. The Danish seaman got his chance three years ago when he was asked to helm the Majestic Maersk, a mammoth, baby blue-painted vessel that at 400 meters (1,312 feet) is longer than a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier. The ship can hold up to 18,270 twenty-foot (TEU) shipping containers and is owned by the world's largest container shipping firm, A.P. Moller-Maersk. "If you're going to be a captain and the company asks you, do you want to be on our biggest ship in the fleet, everybody would be proud. If they don't, then I think they're lying," he told Reuters from his ship during a 24 hour-long stop in Shanghai's port last Saturday.

21 Jul 2016

ICS Conference to Focus on Shipping Agenda

The International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) will focus clearly on its core agenda this year, with experts from key areas of industry across the board speaking at its 2016 International Shipping Conference, to be held at the British Library on Wednesday 7 September. Principal speakers include Kitak Lim, Secretary-General, IMO; Ian Parry, Principal Environmental Fiscal Policy Expert, International Monetary Fund (IMF); and Esben Poulsson, new Chairman of ICS. Reducing CO2 emissions is high on the list of priorities for the industry, and this is reflected in the programme, with an ‘all parties’ session on the issue, chaired by John Adams


12 Jan 2016

St. Lawrence Seaway Wraps Up Navigation Season

Photo courtesy of St. Lawrence Seaway

With water temperatures well above the 10-year average, the St. Lawrence Seaway closed its 2015 navigation season ice free on December 31. Thirty-six million metric tons of cargo transited the waterway during the season, with grain, at volumes well above the five-year average, leading the way. The Seaway once again proved to be a key asset for farmers as they shipped their crops to markets at home and overseas. Grain volumes on the Seaway amounted to 10.8 million metric tons, one of the strongest years in recent memory.

02 Nov 2015

Shipping Braces for post-Paris Pollution Tax

Brussels sets end-2016 deadline for CO2-cutting proposals by IMO. The shipping industry expects to be stung by a carbon levy as momentum building from climate talks in Paris starting this month makes a cut to its greenhouse gas emissions likely. Any tax - either a levy based on fuel use by diesel-driven ships or a market based mechanism - would add to rising costs for the industry, which transports 90 percent of world trade. A draft Paris text makes scant mention of reducing CO2 from marine bunker fuels. Yet ship industry sources say some form of taxation is expected to come in the wake of any deal at the Nov.30-Dec. 11 summit. "We do expect that sooner or later shipping will be regulated on CO2


22 Oct 2015

VOOPS: Venice Offshore Onshore Port System

An artist’s rendering of the completed VOOPS project offshore port.  (Image credit: Venice Port Authority)

The New York Times once called Venice “undoubtedly the most beautiful city built by man.” But as beautiful as Venice might be, it is still a port city struggling to compete in a global economy, and beauty doesn’t attract Ultra Large Container Vessels (UCLV). Port of Venice authorities hope that its ambitious new offshore-onshore port project might do just that. The Venice Offshore Onshore Port System (VOOPS) was born out of necessity. The Venetian government made it a goal to


22 Sep 2015

Megaships Worsen Overcapacity in Boxship Trades

Container shipping lines are poised to take delivery of a new generation of "megaships" over the next two years, just as the growth of world trade is slowing down, contributing to massive overcapacity in the market. Megaships, which can be up to 400 metres long, seem to be here to stay, not least because so many more are already on order, the product of high fuel costs and low interest rates. But the trend towards larger vessels is not without problems especially for other businesses in the transport system and the trend could be nearing its limit as the economies of scale associated with megaships decline. Container shipping capacity


13 Jun 2015

LISW15 Lines Up Speakers

London International Shipping Week 2015 (LISW15) is pleased to announce the line up, so far, of high level government and industry speakers for the official LISW15 Conference being held at the Grosvenor House Hotel on London’s Park Lane, on Thursday 10th September. The conference will begin with Jeremy Penn, Chairman of the LISW15 Steering Group and Chief Executive of The Baltic Exchange, formally welcoming everyone to the event before handing over to The Rt Honourable The Lord Mayor of the City of London, Alderman Alan Yarrow who will then address the Conference alongside a Senior UK Government Minister. This session will focus on World


29 Jan 2015

Shipping Pollution Will Skyrocket -Study

International freight volumes will grow fourfold by 2050 while the average length of haul will increase by 12 percent over that time, trends that will cause a spike in global carbon emissions unless corrective action is taken. An Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) sector study presented at the International Transport Forum (ITF) forecasts that freight transport emissions will grow 286 per cent on average by the middle of the century as changing trade patterns ensure larger volumes of goods travel even longer distances. The sharp increase in emissions dwarfs the predicted 30 to 110 percent increase in surface passenger transport emissions.

13 May 2013

Rickmers CEO Joins Annual International Maritime Hall of Fame

Ronald D Widdows

Ron Widdows, CEO of Rickmers Group and Rickmers-Linie, was inducted into the Annual International Maritime Hall of Fame in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the global maritime industry. He was one of only six people awarded the honor in a ceremony in New York on May 8, 2013 at a dinner attended by 400 maritime industry colleagues. Other inductees included Maersk Mc-Kinney Møller, Chairman, A.P. Møller-Maersk (posthumous award) and Michael Bloomberg, the Mayor of New York City.

24 May 2013

ICS Presents Shipping Economic Challenges to World Ministers

At the OECD International Transport Forum in Leipzig, Germany, the annual gathering of the world's transport ministers from more than 50 countries (May 22-24), the views of the global shipping industry were represented by the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS), the principal global trade association for shipowners. ICS explained the realities of the very serious economic challenges presently confronting shipping at a special ministerial session on the financing of sustainable maritime transport. Speaking on behalf of ICS, Stena AB CEO, Carl-Johan Hagman said, “In the current economic climate the shipping industry has to work in close contact with shipping’s global regulators, especially the IMO, and make them fully aware of the implications of their actions.

04 Jun 2013

ICS Points to Shipping's Economic Challenges at OECD Meeting

The International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) explained the serious economic challenges presently confronting shipping to 50 transport ministers. ICS explained its position on the financing of sustainable maritime transport at this year’s Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) International Transport Forum in Leipzig. He added that protecting the environment is of great importance but pointed out the need for a balance between the measures taken do this and their economic impact. Mr Hagman told the closed meeting: “Distillate fuels currently cost around fifty per cent more than residual fuel and the difference between the two fuels is expected to increase as the use of distillate becomes mandatory.

11 Jul 2013

Spending On Transport Infrastructure

Transport infrastructure is a vital social and economic asset. Its construction and maintenance absorb significant resources while decisions on infrastructure have impacts that last for decades. The report Spending on Transport Infrastructure 1995-2011: Trends, Policies, Data and a related database have been released by the International Transport Forum at the OECD. The 2013 edition of the Forum’s annual statistics update presents aggregate trends in inland transport infrastructure investment and maintenance since 1995 and provides data on road, rail, inland waterway, sea port and airport spending for the International Transport Forum member countries for the period 1995-2011. Investment as a percentage of GDP has remained at around 1% since 1995 in the OECD.

16 Aug 2012

New ITF Secretary-General Takes Office

José Viegas, Secretary-General of the International Transport Forum.

Internationally renowned academic José Viegas of Portugal is new chief executive of global transport policy body. José Viegas, a Portuguese national, has taken office as Secretary-General of the International Transport Forum. The International Transport Forum at the OECD is an intergovernmental organisation with 54 member countries that acts as a strategic think tank for global transport policy and organises an annual summit of transport ministers. The Forum is housed by the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) in Paris.