Sustainability at Containerships

Containerships focuses on sustainability and innovation at every stage of the supply chain. We offer a fully eco-friendly multimodal supply chains for our customers.

Containerships is the first European operator to use LNG as the main fuel source throughout the end-to-end service including sea and land transportation. Our door-to-door deliveries via motorways of the sea reduce trucks’ pollution and enhance the environmentally friendly solutions.

Containerships has 4 LNG-fuelled vessels in operational use within north Europe. Fueling of the vessels with LNG is done in the port of Rotterdam. During the 2021 Containerships will get delivered two more LNG-vessels.

LNG significantly reduces the environmental impacts of transportation operations. New LNG-fuelled vessels have better operational efficiency compared to traditional vessels and give additional benefits related to environmental impacts. The use of LNG represents a real technological breakthrough which allows for up to 99% less sulphur and fine particles emissions, 85% less nitrogen oxides emissions and 25% less CO2 emissions as compared to heavy fuel oil.

Our core business is to serve our customers in the whole door-to-door supply chain. This have been said, concentrating only on emissions generated during the sea leg is not feasible from sustainability point of view. Currently, Containerships has 25 LNG trucks in operation. The amount will be increased as operational conditions allow. Containerships is also committed to deploying Electric Powered trucks as soon as these become economically viable in the Heavy Truck market-place. We will continue to make use of Bio-Fuel alternatives across our fleet and in the UK, we have recently signed a carbon off-setting Agreement in order to further compensate for those emissions that we are unable to reduce by direct measures.

We are also an extensive user of rail transport across Europe. Rail is deployed on a spot and contracted basis across many of our operations. Contract rail is specifically deployed in Spain, Poland and the UK where we operated dedicated and non-dedicated rail services for a number of customers.

With LNG and Containerships, our customers can benefit from a notable reduction on their CO2 footprint and reduce their contribution to global warming efficiently. Containerships is highly motivated to continue on the more sustainable road, meaning that the use of alternative non-fossil fuels is part of the company’s future fuel strategy.

Our door-to-door multimodal service is based on the most environmentally friendly means of transport.

We are committed to:

• CO2 reduction (reducing regional transport footprint)
• Boldness (committed to LNG, investing in Electric)
• Integrity (respecting our employees, our suppliers, our customers, and the environment)

Our operating processes are already focused on efficiency, which in turn delivers immediate environmental benefits. For example, pooling volumes can measurably deliver substantial reductions in fuel consumption and in a company’s carbon footprint. A swap from 100% road transportation to multimodal using our model (road, rail, shortsea and barge) can reduce up to 65% of CO2 emissions per unit moved.

One of our voyages operated by LNG vessel takes about 500 trucks off the roads. That is having all loads taken at once on a vessel vs 500 trucks driving from one point to another. One gallon of fuel will carry a tonne of cargo 60 miles over the road and 500 miles at sea.Short sea shipping is the most environmentally friendly mode of transportation reducing not only cargo CO2 footprint but at the same time limiting road traffic noise and congestion. 

Being part of the CMA CGM Group enables our growth and supports our functions, operations and sustainability goals. CMA CGM Group also have its own well-developed environmental policy and sustainability strategies. The Group has adopted many environmentally sensitive approaches to business, such as building design, energy recovery, waste avoidance and other techniques. For more information on CMA CGM’s Corporate Social Responsibility, click below.