Scan Global Logistics, Hapag-Lloyd to scale existing decarbonization partnership with ocean biofuel investment

Scan Global Logistics announced May 20 that it and Hapag-Lloyd are strengthening their partnership to further reduce emissions in ocean freight.

They are doing this by expanding their collaboration and leveraging Hapag-Lloyd’s Ship Green solution and integrating it into the existing product portfolio of emission-reducing solutions that SGL offers, which enables the global freight forwarder’s customers to take immediate and measurable action to decarbonize their global supply chains.

“Together with Scan Global Logistics, we are driving forward practical solutions to reduce emissions in ocean freight,” said Danny Smolders, Hapag-Lloyd’s managing director of global sales. “Ship Green enables customers to act today and take meaningful steps towards their sustainability targets.”

Martin Andersen, SGL’s global head of sustainability, added, “Our customers are asking for real emission reductions. Not promises for 2030 or 2050, but solutions they can use straight away. By working with Hapag-Lloyd and investing in biofuel, we can reduce emissions from ocean freight right now, without changing how our customers operate. That’s what makes this collaboration meaningful.” 

Across the collaboration, the two companies now enable a total avoidance of more than 8,500 metric tons of CO2e emissions (well-to-wake) on global shipments.

The solution is based on the use of second-generation biofuels derived from waste and residue-based feedstocks, offering a practical and scalable way to reduce emissions without requiring any changes to existing logistics operations.

How ocean biofuel works in practice

At a time when the shipping industry is still scaling up low-carbon fuels and infrastructure, solutions that can be easily implemented play a crucial role.

In this partnership, customers can reduce emissions in their supply chain through a physical book-and-claim approach based on the mass-balance principle.

This means the ship’s normal fuel is blended with biofuel.

The physical book-and-claim approach, based on the mass-balance principle, allows customers to claim verified emission reductions independently of the physical shipment.

This enables companies to reduce their scope 3 emissions across global supply chains in a transparent and flexible way.

“Ocean biofuel is a powerful solution for customers as it reduces emissions without changing anything in the supply chain in an affordable way,” Andersen explained.

Both companies are committed to ambitious climate targets and to accelerating the decarbonization of global supply chains.

SGL is working towards halving its emissions by 2030 and achieving net-zero emissions by 2050, while Hapag-Lloyd aims to achieve net-zero fleet operations by 2045.

SGL said by working together it and Hapag-Lloyd are contributing to the transition towards more sustainable and transparent global supply chains.