Study Reveals Newer Built Ships Are 10 Percent Less Fuel Efficient Than Those Built in 1990

Newer bulk carriers, tankers, and containerships were on average 12, 8 and 8 percent less fuel efficient, respectively.

On average, ships built in 2013 are 10 percent less fuel efficient than older ships built in 1990, according to a study commissioned by environmental non-governmental organisations (NGOs) Seas At Risk and Transport & Environment (T&E).

According to the report, bulk carriers, tankers, and containerships built in 2013 were on average 12, 8 and 8 percent respectively less fuel efficient than counterparts from a quarter of a century ago. 

In addition, the study also found that on average, containerships built 30 years ago had already exceeded standards that the International Maritime Organization (IMO) has set for new ships built in 2020 through its Energy Efficiency Design Index (EEDI).

"Aircraft and cars have become more fuel efficient, but despite a generation of technological improvements, ships have largely gone backwards for most of the past 25 years," said Bill Hemmings, clean shipping manager at T&E.

"The IMO’s design efficiency standard for new ships itself needs a redesign and strengthening if the standard is not supposed to merely bring us back to levels achieved 25 years ago.”

T&E, who is also a member of the Clean Shipping Coalition (CSC) added that the findings contradict assumptions that the industry has been constantly improving its environmental performance.

“Now we know that we cannot rely on rising fuel prices, other market forces or the good intentions of industry to solve shipping’s climate problem," said John Maggs, president of the CSC.

"Instead we need a clear and ambitious target for reducing ship greenhouse gas emissions and legally binding measures to get us there.”

The IMO is set to review the EEDI next month. 

Last month, the CSC also urged the industry to set a carbon emissions reduction target, having singled out the shipping industry as the only major economic sphere that has yet to tackle carbon emissions.