In yet another boost to shipping’s decarbonisation agenda, the Global Centre for Maritime Decarbonisation (GCMD) and global liner shipping company Hapag-Lloyd have signed a strategic partnership agreement committing to cooperate on efforts contributing to maritime decarbonisation. The Centre and Hapag-Lloyd will focus on collaboration to amplify the impact of the solutions and accelerate the time to deployment and adoption.

Shipping’s decarbonisation efforts will greatly benefit from this partnership with both organisations aligned on their strong on-going commitment in protecting the environment, and helping advance the decarbonisation of the shipping industry. Hapag-Lloyd has recently announced ambitious decarbonisation targets, making it a natural partner for the Centre. It is intensifying efforts to reduce the emissions of its entire fleet by 30% by 2030 compared to 2019 and is further aiming to be climate-neutral by 2045, ahead of the IMO 2050 target.

Hapag-Lloyd currently represents 7% of the global TEU capacity. Together with GCMD founding partner ONE, the two companies represent a significant 13% of the world’s total TEU capacity. With both Hapag-Lloyd and ONE onboard, the Centre expects greater proliferation of its findings towards actual deployment, amplifying the overall impact of GCMD’s decarbonisaton efforts.

Headquartered in Hamburg, Hapag-Lloyd also brings geographical diversity to GCMD and can facilitate stronger interactions within the European and German ecosystems. This partnership also adds $10M in funding, giving a further boost to GCMD’s efforts in conducting pilots and trials.

In welcoming the Centre’s first strategic partner since its founding on 1 August 2021, Professor Lynn Loo, CEO of the Global Centre for Maritime Decarbonisation said: “Shipping is a hard-to-abate sector and to reach the IMO’s climate change goals, collaboration across the value chain is required. Hapag-Lloyd is a forward-leaning organisation and has a strong presence in the container shipping business. With strong commitment and ambition, the participation of Hapag-Lloyd as a strategic partner will allow both organisations to share knowledge, build on existing initiatives and provide additional resources for pilots and trials. We are also pleased to welcome Hapag-Lloyd’s CEO Mr. Rolf Habben Jansen to our Governing board.”

“Through our strategic partnership with the Global Centre for Decarbonisation (GCMD), we will combine our efforts towards climate-neutral shipping. I am very honored to be welcomed to the board of the GCMD,” said Rolf Habben Jansen, CEO of Hapag-Lloyd. “Sustainability is an essential part of Hapag-Lloyd’s corporate strategy, with decarbonisation playing a key role. We look forward to this partnership and to jointly making progress in decarbonising the maritime industry.”