Dive Brief:
- Amazon and A. P. Moller – Maersk renewed a deal to ship goods using biofuels throughout 2023 and 2024, according to a Sept. 6 announcement.
- For the fourth consecutive year, the e-commerce giant will use Maersk's eco-delivery product to ship 20,000 40-foot containers. The deal will save 44,600 metric tons of CO2 emissions, according to the shipping line's calculations.
- New to the deal this year is an ability for Amazon to ship containers on Maersk's methanol-enabled fleet, and the use of primary data when it comes to fuel consumption to report emission savings which include other greenhouse gases besides CO2.
Dive Insight:
Shipper demand for sustainable ocean transportation services continues to grow, according to Maersk, which has provided an eco-delivery option since 2019.
"We are seeing demand in many different industries, everything from fashion and retail, to automotive, chemical, and even wastepaper," a Maersk spokesperson said.
The spokesperson added that two-thirds of the ocean carrier's top 200 customers, and many others, have now set net-zero or science-based emissions targets to reduce their scope 3 emissions.
Amazon, for example, has pledged to reach 50% net-zero shipments by 2030. On its website, the retailer cites several ways it is working to reduce emissions, such as by increasing its use of ocean freight over airfreight on some routes and using biofuels.
"Decarbonizing ocean shipping is tough, yet here we are," Laura Bowen Wegener, ocean shipping decarbonization lead at Amazon, said in a LinkedIn post following the announcement.
"I’m honored to lead this mission with Amazon and A.P. Moller - Maersk and know we and many other cargo owners, shipping lines, fuel producers, and others will quicken the energy transition on the seas," Bowen Wegener added.
Maersk has also pledged to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2040.
The ocean giant’s first methanol-enabled feeder vessel set sail this month, according to the company's website. Amazon will have containers of its own on that vessel, VP of Global Transportation at Amazon Adam Baker said in a statement.
