As of mid 2018, 55 of RightShip’s chartering customers, who between them transport 2.4 billion tonnes of cargo per annum factor energy efficiency into the vessel selection process. This represents around 31,500 vessel movements a year or 20% of global trade.

RightShip’s GHG Emissions Rating provides a transparent method to assess the relative efficiency of vessels.

The GHG Rating gives charterers the opportunity to:

• compare the relative efficiency of vessels, allowing an informed vessel selection process
• remove or reduce the split incentive in the market of cargo owners not directly paying for fuel bill
• reduce CO2 output, and
• provide industry leadership in sustainability efforts and carbon reduction initiatives

An independent study undertaken by the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research has shown that using the GHG Rating to eliminate F & G rated vessels from a supply chain saves an organisation up to 9% in carbon dioxide emissions and 9% in fuel costs.

“By using more-efficient ships, we are gaining cost efficiencies and furthering our efforts to reduce Mosaic’s carbon footprint. Given the success of GHG Emissions Rating vetting, we are reviewing options to also exclude F-rated vessels. Emissions from shipping currently represent less than 5 percent of Mosaic’s carbon footprint.”

Neil Beckingham, Director of Sustainability at The Mosaic Company

Transparency around efficiency is essential and increasingly useful in informing selection practices and ensuring efficient vessels are adequately recognised and rewarded.

Key benefits to shipowners include:

• increased transparency into the efficiency measures undertaken during the design, build and operation of their respective fleet

• recognition and reward for investing in efficiency measures which may lead to an improved reputation as a sustainable ship owner
• reduced port fees at select ports who reward efficiency through port incentive programs, and
• financial institutions offering improved financing rates to ship owners with more efficient vessels in their fleet, as well as insurers offering lower insurance premiums.

As the trend towards sustainable investment grows, financial institutions increasingly factor sustainability into their lending criteria.

Energy efficient vessels often have lower fuel costs and better chartering potential, which can ensure greater return on investment over the lifetime of the vessel. In addition, a more efficient vessel may align more closely with an organisation’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) requirements.

Key benefits for financial institutions include:

• the GHG Rating providing a standard framework for measuring the efficiency of an investment portfolio and the ability to track changes over time

• banks are provided with an opportunity to reduce their risk by using the GHG Rating to identify and finance energy efficient assets. This is especially significant given the current over-supply of vessels in the market and the typical 25-30 year investment horizon, and
• the GHG Rating can also be used to map the correlation between investment risk and vessel employment as an increasing number of charterers seek out more efficient vessels.

Efficiency data is also being used in credit-approval processes for vessel purchases, loan assessments for retrofit projects and re-sell of scrapping decisions, with banks citing efficiency as a key indicator for a vessel’s profitability.