A new report commissioned by RightShip examines how ESG priorities are shaping vessel selection, and why commercial pressures often outweigh safety and environmental performance when it comes to choosing ships and partners.

RightShip today released From Pledges to Practice: Anchoring Safety, Sustainability and Crew Welfare in Vessel Selection, a new research report produced with maritime consultancy Thetius that uncovers a persistent disconnect between industry ambitions on ESG and how vessels are selected and chartered in practice.

Combining in-depth interviews with shipowners, technical managers and charterers alongside a pulse-survey, the report finds that most shipowners believe they are going beyond minimum compliance in safety, sustainability, and crew welfare. Yet only a small fraction are commercially rewarded for doing so. While 73% of owners say they exceed baseline compliance on safety, 60% on sustainability, and 67% on crew welfare, just 27% of charterers offer better terms to those higher-performing vessels.

Despite many charterers citing safety as a priority, commercial pressures continue to dictate final decisions. 73% of charterers say safety records significantly influence their vessel selection, but 87% of shipowners report that charterers still deprioritise ESG performance when faced with tighter budgets or limited vessel availability. In crew welfare, the visibility gap is even wider: while nearly half of charterers claim it is an important factor, only 7% have the tools or data to assess it during negotiations.

Panellists from the report’s launch highlighted how these findings translate directly into operational and financial outcomes. One example discussed was a mooring line failure costing just $4,000 but resulting in three to four hours of lost loading time, an interruption equating to roughly 28,000 tonnes of iron ore and nearly $3 million in lost value. The case underscored that safety and crew welfare are not abstract ideals; they are fundamental to commercial performance.

The findings point to a widening gap between intent and incentive. Many owners who invest in safer, greener, and more responsible vessels often find their efforts invisible in the marketplace. Without consistent standards and reliable data, even well-intentioned charterers struggle to identify and reward leadership.

The report calls for industry-wide alignment around four major actions: rewarding ESG leadership with tangible commercial benefits; defining and standardising what good performance looks like across all vessel types; ensuring that ESG data is trusted, transparent, and integrated into everyday decision-making; and recognising high performers through both financial and reputational means.

“Closing the ESG gap requires collaboration across the value chain, linking safety, sustainability, and crew welfare not only to ethics but also to a commercial advantage, ensuring a safer, fairer and more resilient maritime future,” said Steen Lund, Chief Executive Officer at RightShip. “Our intention is to spark fresh conversations across commercial, operational and ethical boundaries, encouraging the industry to think differently, and collaborate more openly and take collective steps toward zero harm”.

“Ambition is not yet reaching the fixture desk,” said Christopher Saunders, Chief Maritime Officer at RightShip. “Owners are investing in safer operations, lower emissions and better crew welfare, but the signals charterers rely on are fragmented. Our report shows the path to fix this: agree on what ‘good’ looks like, make the data decision-grade, and reward leadership with real commercial advantages.”

From Pledges to Practice: Anchoring Safety, Sustainability and Crew Welfare in Vessel Selection is available to download at: https://eu1.hubs.ly/H0pn2vw0.

The report represents another step in RightShip’s ongoing mission to drive safer, more sustainable, and more socially responsible practices across the global maritime industry.