Dive Brief:
- Maersk has secured a $5 billion revolving credit facility through a group of 26 banks, the company said Tuesday in a press release. The credit margin will be adjusted based on Maersk's progress toward its target of reducing carbon emissions by 60% per cargo moved by 2030.
- "Given the lifespan of our fleet, we need to find new and sustainable solutions to propel our vessels within the next 10 years," Maersk CEO of Fleet and Strategic Brands Henriette Hallberg Thygesen said in the release. The new funds will be used to help the carrier reach its sustainability goals, Thygesen said.
- This is the first bank refinancing Maersk has undertaken since becoming a global container logistics company, according to the press release. The move refinances its existing $5.1 billion undrawn facility set to mature in 2021.
Dive Insight:
The International Maritime Organization (IMO) aims to reduce carbon emissions across international shipping by 70% by 2050. By that time, Maersk hopes to be carbon neutral. Securing the new credit facility is Maersk's latest move in achieving that goal.
Maersk is not the only one aiming for carbon neutrality. Zero-emissions ocean shipping is an industry-wide goal. Last September, Maersk and 69 others — including shippers, ocean carriers and energy providers — formed the Getting to Zero Coalition, which is pushing to decarbonize the industry in line with Paris Agreement requirements.
"Emissions are projected to grow by between 50 and 250% by 2050 if no action is taken," the coalition said in a press release.
IMO's most recent estimate of greenhouse gas emissions in the shipping industry found ocean shipping "emitted 796 million tonnes of CO2 in 2012." This shows improvement, as numbers were higher before the Great Recession, reaching 885 million tonnes of CO2 in 2007.
"Efficiency measures can only keep shipping emissions stable, not eliminate them," A.P. Møller Maersk CEO Søren Skou said. He noted increased efficiency has helped the carrier lower its carbon emissions by 41% over the last decade.
It will take developments in alternative energy, such as propulsion technologies or clean fuels, to reach carbon neutrality. In that vein, Maersk also formed a coalition last October to explore the use of LEO fuel and announced a pilot program the following month for a containerized electric battery system.
