The container shipping sector is progressing in the process of reducing emissions of its own ships, but in recent months they have been registered overall mixed results, with some significant improvements offset by performance below expectations, and this following a weakening of the market that had an impact on the filling rates of ships' holds which consequently resulted in a decrease in overall efficiency. It has highlighted the Norwegian Xeneta, which has created a platform monitoring the freight value of this market and that, in collaboration with Marine Benchmark, defined the Carbon Emissions Index (CEI), an index that indicates the intensity of Carbon emissions from fleets used by primary carriers Global container seafarers on 13 major routes international trade.

The latest CEI survey for the fourth quarter of 2022, warns that in the period only one maritime carrier, the Taiwanese Yang Ming, got on all 13 sea routes on score less than 100, which is the reference value established on the basis of the average carbon emissions produced from fleets in the first quarter of 2018 on the 13 routes. Second Xeneta and Marine Benchmark, the performance of the Yang Ming is was achieved thanks to the best balance between speed container shipping, the filling factor of ships and the size of the container carriers used.

Noting that the sector is moving in the right direction, with variable scores that nevertheless demonstrate how progress are far from easy, Emily Stausbøll, analyst of Xeneta, specified that "there is only one sea route which in the fourth quarter of 2022 recorded a higher EIC higher than in the first quarter of 2018 and is the route between the east coast of the United States and northern Europe, which has a CEI of 108. However - it has specified - quarter After the quarter we are seeing some setbacks, for example examples such as those relating to traffic departing from the Far East where CEI scores have worsened, having increased, in four of the five main sea routes. To find out why - he explained - we must consider the general conditions of the market. Weak economic fundamentals hit the question, affecting the volumes. Therefore, we have seen the rates of filling from the Far East decrease by 4.5 percentage points. However, to counteract this deterioration, there has been no some decrease in browsing speed, and therefore of emissions, and therefore efficiency suffers. Accordingly the EICs increased by an average of 6% on these primary routes maritime front-haul. But, and it's a "but" significant - Stausbøll has emphasized - all these routes are still experiencing improvements compared to performance in 2018, with indices recording an improvement between 3.4% and 15.7%. So, a lot has been done, but a lot It remains to be done."