The shipping industry is responsible for 3% of the global carbon footprint, so bringing down its footprint can have seriously positive effects. Recently shippers have been increasing their pressure on shipping lines to offer more sustainable ways of shipping. An innovation several large shipping companies are currently testing is the windshield.
The shields that are being installed on the bows of some of the largest container ships out there are very similar to the windshield you see on top of semi trucks. The shields improve the aerodynamics of the ships, reduce drag, and thus improve fuel efficiency. Less fuel means fewer emissions.
ONE at the Forefront, CMA CGM Following
MOL was the first shipping line to test a windshield on the bow of one of their vessels. The shipping company claimed that the ship, the MOL Marvel, experienced an average reduction of 2% in carbon emissions compared to a similar ship on the same route sailing without the shield. MOL has since merged with NYK and K Line to form container shipping company ONE.
ONE has since followed in MOL’s footsteps and has installed a similar windshield on the ONE Trust, a 20,170 TEU vessel. The windshield is part of the company’s sustainability strategy. In 2030 ONE wants to reduce scope 1 GHG emissions by 70% per TEU KM compared to 2008 levels and 100% by 2050. Actually, the company wants to achieve net-zero GHG emissions (including scopes 2 and 3) by 2050.
The video below shows the ONE Trust arriving in South Hampton with the recently installed windshield.
The description of the video gives more information:
The installation was carried out at the Qingdao Beihai Shipyard in China as part of the ship’s five-year class drydock. ONE Tradition, the fourth vessel of this class, has just left the Beihai Shipyard, where its windshield was also installed. The shipping line has a series of 24,000TEU ships being built at the Imabari Shipyard in Japan, and early construction images show that these vessels will also have a windshield installed as part of their design.
CMA CGM has also retrofitted one of their 16,000 TEU ships, the CMA CGM Marco Polo< with a bow windshield.
Will the windshield be a new trend that catches on and significantly reduce the industry’s carbon footprint? We certainly hope so!
The header image is taken from the YouTube video in this article
