Photo credit: Sea Cargo Charter

Denmark´s Sea Cargo Charter, a framework for assessing and disclosing the climate alignment of chartering activities, with major charterers and operators as Signatories, has elected new Chair and Vice Chair in its 2023 Annual Meeting in Copenhagen. Rasmus Bach Nielsen (Trafigura Maritime Logistics) was elected as Chair and Eman Abdalla (Cargill Ocean Transportation) was elected Vice Chair of the Sea Cargo Charter Association.

In the 2023 Annual Meeting of the Sea Cargo Charter Association in Copenhagen, the 36 Signatories elected new Steering Committee members and discussed past and future activities. In total, 12 member companies were elected to the Steering Committee to coordinate the Association on behalf of its members.

Each year, the association publishes its Annual Disclosure Report, which details the climate impact of the member companies.

“I am honoured to be elected as Chair of the Steering Committee, and excited to continue all the great work that is already underway. The mindset regarding climate alignment has changed faster than we could have imagined in the past few years, and I look forward to continuing the work on global standardised and transparent emission reporting which will assist everyone in pushing shipping’s green transition forward,” says Rasmus Bach Nielsen, Global Head, Fuel Decarbonisation, Trafigura Maritime Logistics and new Chair of the Sea Cargo Charter Association.

Rasmus Bach Nielsen is replacing Jan Dieleman as Chair, stepping up from Vice Chair. Claire Wright (Shell) was reelected as Treasurer of the Steering Committee.

The association has grown significantly since it was established in October 2020, but the ambition is to get many more new members, for example from the mining industry and from a wider geographical spread.

“We have accomplished so much with the Sea Cargo Charter in the past few years. Establishing a common, global baseline to assess and disclose chartering activities’ climate alignment is a critical step in the decarbonisation efforts of the industry as it provides insights for continuous improvements and interventions. I am confident in the newly elected Steering Committee and look forward to following future progress,” says Jan Dieleman, President, Cargill Ocean Transportation.

Eman Abdalla, Global Operations Director, Cargill Ocean Transportation was elected as new Vice Chair of the Association, and she looks forward to expanding the membership.

“The Sea Cargo Charter is a critical framework that brings transparency, standardisation, and alignment to the shipping industry. I am honoured to be elected as Vice-Chair and look forward to working tirelessly to expand our membership base across industries and geographies to achieve our goal of widespread adoption, making zero carbon shipping a reality,” she says.

The Sea Cargo Charter Association Steering Committee counts 14 member companies.

The Steering Committee now consists of: Rasmus Bach Nielsen, Trafigura Maritime Logistics (Chair); Eman Abdalla, Cargill Ocean Transportation (Vice Chair); Claire Wright, Shell (Treasurer); Engebret Dahm, Torvald Klaveness; Hans Christian Jensen, ADM; Heidi Aakre, Equinor; Henrik Røjel, Norden; Jeff Wakker, Viterra; Jürgen Willemsen, Dow; Justine Clark, Shell; Marcio Valentim Moura, Bunge; Martin Viquesnel, Louis Dreyfus Company; Matt Turns, Chevron; Patrick Heise, ADM; Peter Lye, Anglo American; Raghav Gulati, Anglo American; Seb Landerretche, Louis Dreyfus Company; Sebastien Roche, TotalEnergies.

Global Maritime Forum act as the secretariat for the Sea Cargo Charter.