The Sea Cargo Charter (SCC), a global framework for assessing and disclosing the climate alignment of chartering activities, is to revise its reporting framework, aligning its trajectory with the International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) revised greenhouse gas (GHG) strategy and expanding its current membership scope to include shipowners.
The framework will line up with the IMO’s latest ambition to reach net-zero GHG emissions in the shipping sector by approximately 2050, featuring indicative checkpoints in 2030 and 2040 and employing a full lifecycle well-to-wake approach.
The Sea Cargo Charter (SCC), with 37 signatories representing over 17% of total bulk cargo transported by sea annually, is a framework that assesses and publishes climate alignment of charterers who voluntarily decide to join, calculating the degree to which the voyage carbon intensity of a vessel category is in line with global decarbonisation trajectory(ies).
As SCC claims, the move underscores the commitment to support charterers and shipowners throughout the transition process, offering data-driven insights on best practices and opportunities for emission reduction.
Rasmus Bach Nielsen, Sea Cargo Charter chair and global head of fuel decarbonisation at Trafigura, said: “Today, as representatives of the Sea Cargo Charter, we announce a revised trajectory in response to the latest IMO ambition unveiled during MEPC80 in July.”
“The Sea Cargo Charter aligns shipping emissions reporting with the new IMO ambition and expands its scope, allowing all ship owners to report under the same framework if they so wish—further demonstrating the Charter’s proactive stance in fostering transparency and sustainability across the maritime industry.”
Sea Cargo Charter added that building on past efforts, signatories will continue to evaluate the necessity of an additional trajectory for consistent climate alignment reporting with a 1.5°C future.
The purpose it to increase transparency on emissions across the shipping ecosystem, with the goal to reduce emissions, by providing shipowners with a solid and standardised methodology and framework for reporting and disclosing emissions data associated with their activities.
Eman Abdalla, global operations & supply chain director at Cargill Ocean Transportation, noted: “Adopting IMO’s revised GHG strategy as well as opening the door to owners are two critical milestones for the Sea Cargo Charter as this will accelerate gaining traction within the industry,” adding that, “By increasing accessibility, improving the quality of data and encouraging the collaboration between charterers and shipowners, we expect a knock-on effect of pushing standards for monitoring emissions and facilitating well-informed decision-making.”
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