We began work on the environmental risk rating after hearing startling statistics and forecasts about the environmental impact of shipping. Back in 2005, the European Commission announced research suggesting that, by 2020, air pollution from international shipping in Europe would surpass the total from all land-based sources. More recently, according to the IMO’s Greenhouse Gas Study (2009) if unabated, shipping’s contribution to total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions could reach 18% by 2050.
Ships contribute to environmental harm through the emission of GHG, primarily carbon dioxide (CO2), and pollutants including nitrogen oxides (NOx), sulphur oxides (SOx) and unburnt hydrocarbon particulate matter (PM).The environmental impact of shipping can be reduced by fuel efficient ships, with modern IMO-compliant engines using low sulphur fuel, optimising cargo movement operations. Until now, this kind of data has been dispersed and companies had no cost-effective way to gather and use it in their decision-making.
In response to this need, RightShip developed an environmental rating to sit alongside our proven risk rating as a complementary support to decision-making. It will not have any impact on current inspection processes or recommendation criteria – it is a separate rating. A vessel with 5 environmental stars can clearly demonstrate performance and behaviours which are above compliance.
RightShip has also developed an Existing Vessel Design Index (EVDI™) and a Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions Rating to address the 60,000+ vessels currently in service, which emit over 1 billion tonnes of CO2 in to the atmosphere annually. The EVDI™ is an estimated measure of the CO2 emitted per tonne nautical mile travelled and is based on characteristics of the ship at build, such as cargo carrying capacity, engine power and fuel consumption. The GHG Emissions Rating is a practical measure derived from the EVDI™ that allows relative comparison of a ship’s CO2 emissions to vessels of a similar size and type using a simple A – G rating scale.
RightShip believes the main benefits of the environmental rating will include: ·
- Informed selection to reduce bunker bills,
- Informed selection to reduce emissions,
- Rewards to owners who have proactively invested in corporate social responsibility,
- A simple means to determine baseline emissions, set targets & benchmark – to meet pollution reduction targets, and
- Differentiate efforts in a statistically valid way to demonstrate commitment to sustainability.
A whitepaper explaining our methodology can be downloaded here
View Rightship's Environmental & GHG Emissions Ratings demonstration video here
View RightShip's GHG Emissions Rating recorded webinar here
