Japanese container shipping company Ocean Network Express (ONE) cut its CO2 emissions by 58.5pc to 9.39mn metric tonnes (t) in 2022 from a 2008 baseline, through lower fuel consumption, operational improvements, and the use of biofuel.
ONE burned 2.83mn t of conventional marine fuel in 2022, down 14pc from 2021, the company said in its sustainability report. Fuel oil accounted for 2.57mn t of its conventional marine fuel demand and the remainder was marine gasoil.
ONE's container ship NYK Fuji was fueled with 1,300t of marine biofuel in February 2022. The biofuel was a blend of brown grease methyl ester, a type of fatty acid methyl ester (Fame), with very low-sulphur fuel oil (VLSFO). ONE also has employed slow steaming where possible, use of shore electric power, shorter port stays to increase trip efficiency, maintenance of hulls and propellers to reduce friction, and installed special fins for propellers to improve propulsion efficiency.
As of the end of December 2022, the company was operating 38 10,500-20,000 twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEU) vessels, five more than at the end of December 2021. ONE was also operating 90 1,000-6,000 TEU vessels as of the end of December 2022, nine fewer compared with the same period in 2021. Larger container vessels account for more fuel efficient TEU-mile-per-tonne freight.
ONE has set a target of 70pc emissions reduction by 2030 from 2008 base levels and net zero emissions by 2050. ONE's target is more ambitious than the current International Maritime Organisation (IMO) regulation, which requires ship owners to reduce their CO2 emissions by 40pc by 2030 and by 70pc by 2050 from 2008 base levels.
In addition to biofuels, ONE is considering ammonia, methanol and hydrogen as a way to reduce its emissions. In May 2022, ONE ordered 10 new ammonia- and methanol-ready container ships which will be also equipped with onboard carbon capture and storage technology. The vessels can be retrofit to use ammonia or methanol as fuel. They will be delivered in 2025. The company is also planning to install wind propulsion on one if its vessels by the end of the year.
ONE is a joint venture of Japanese shipping companies K Line, MOL and NYK formed in 2017. Since ONE did not exist in 2008 for base level emissions data comparison, it calculated its 2008 base level by accounting for emissions generated by vessels owned by the three individual companies.
