World’s first transpacific green shipping corridor in the making

The Ports of Los Angeles, Long Beach and Shanghai have unveiled plans for the creation of the first-ever green shipping corridor across the Pacific.

As informed, the ports, together with some of the largest carriers in the world, and cargo owners unveiled a Green Shipping Corridor Implementation Plan Outline to accelerate emissions reductions on one of the world’s busiest container shipping routes across the Pacific Ocean.

The plan is the first of its kind and was developed with support from C40 Cities as part of its effort to reduce carbon emissions from the largest cities in the world.

As part of the plan, the carrier partners will begin deploying reduced or zero lifecycle carbon capable ships on the corridor by 2025, and work together to demonstrate by 2030 the feasibility of deploying the world’s first zero lifecycle carbon emission containerships.

Carrier partners include CMA CGM, COSCO Shipping Lines Co., Ltd., Maersk, and ONE. Core partners include the Shanghai International Port (Group) Co., Ltd., the China Classification Society, and the Maritime Technology Cooperation Center of Asia.    

First announced in January 2022 by C40 Cities, the ports of Shanghai and Los Angeles, and key maritime stakeholders, this green shipping corridor will be a big step toward decarbonizing shipping between the busiest ports in China and the United States. In June 2022, the Port of Long Beach joined the project.

Participants of the Green Shipping Corridor Partnership will take steps to reduce carbon emissions and harmful pollutant emissions impacting air quality, through methods such as expanding the use of shore power and supporting the development of clean marine fueling infrastructure.

Cargo owner partners have set goals to contract with carriers to use zero lifecycle carbon emission shipping services, and in an effort to measure progress toward decarbonization, all partners will develop metrics to track decarbonization progress.

“This trans-Pacific green corridor will be a model for the global cooperation needed to accelerate change throughout the maritime industry. Reducing emissions in this corridor will yield substantial  reductions. For perspective, most of the emissions associated with moving cargo by ship occur in the mid-ocean part of the journey between ports.  This corridor will help reduce mid-ocean emissions while continuing the work we have done to cut emissions within our ports,” Gene Seroka, Executive Director of the Port of Los Angeles, said.

“This initiative will drive emissions reductions across the world’s largest ocean and lead to greener practices from supply chain participants along these vital trade routes. The new and innovative vessel technologies, increased availability of sustainable fuels and better practices created through this green corridor will also impact society’s transition to a cleaner future far beyond the areas served by our ports,” Mario Cordero, Chief Executive Officer of the Port of Long Beach, stated.

“C40 is proud to support this first-of-its-kind green shipping corridor aimed at demonstrating that zero-carbon shipping at scale is feasible by 2030, and that less polluting ships and ports will also mean cleaner air, less noise and more jobs for local communities,” Mark Watts, Executive Director of C40 noted.

“The plan is an important step toward decarbonizing the global supply chains that power our economies, and transitioning toward zero lifecycle carbon emission ships,” the partners highlighted.