Bearing Sees Majority of Global Fleet at Failing CII Grade

The firm sees the tanker and LNG carrier segments receiving the highest average grades. Image Credit: Bearing

More than half of the world's ships are likely to receive a failing grade on the IMO's Carbon Intensity Indicator regulation, according to AI-backed vessel performance software firm Bearing.

The firm sees 51.9% of the global fleet by vessel count receiving a failing grade this year, Bearing said in an emailed statement on Wednesday. The prediction is based on an analysis of the voyages of 15,372 ships over the past year.

From this year all vessels larger than 5,000 GT will have calculated for them a CII rating based on historical data submitted to the IMO. The rating is a calculation of the CO2 the vessel emitted per unit of cargo capacity per nautical mile.

The rating will come as a letter between A and E, with A at the top of the scale, and ratings will be determined on an annual basis. Ships receiving a D rating for three years or an E rating for a single year will need to implement a ship energy efficiency management plan setting out their plans to improve their performance.

Of the ships analysed by Bearing, 13.9% are likely to achieve an A grade this year, 13.3% a B, 21% a C, 18.3% a D and 33.6% an E.

"The IMO expects 35% of vessels to receive a grade of A or B," the company said in the statement.

"Bearing's AI projects the proportion of top scorers to be much lower; only about 27%.

"And while the IMO expects 30% of ships in any given category to receive a grade of C -- the lowest passing grade -- Bearing projects that only 21% of ships will receive this mark."

The firm sees the tanker and LNG carrier segments receiving the highest average grades, and general cargo and bulk carriers receiving the lowest. The firm also sees smaller ships generally performing worse than larger ones, meaning the percentage of the global fleet by tonnage receiving a failing grade will be lower than the percentage by vessel count.