Seaways Focus - September 2026
Net zero through cargo care
by Walter Vervloesem FNI President, The Nautical Institute
Sitting on my terrace at 10 pm, with the thermometer still showing 30°C during Belgium’s third heatwave in six weeks, and with the ice cubes in my drink melting at a pace seemingly similar to that of our glaciers, climate change feels anything but abstract. Inevitably, my thoughts turn to shipping and the efforts being made to achieve net zero.
Much attention has been and is being paid to reducing emissions through cleaner fuels, new propulsion technologies, wind assistance, improved coatings and voyage optimisation. But it is not the whole story. There is another part of the equation that to my mind also deserves attention: cargo care.
Cargo claims usually focus on financial loss. But when cargo is damaged, something more has happened than just an insurance claim. By way of example, take a 20-tonne steel coil. Based on World Steel Association averages for 2024, producing that steel represents about 419 GJ of energy and approximately 38 tonnes of CO₂. In broad terms, this is comparable to the annual household energy consumption of around five typical fourperson European households, and emissions representing a significant part of a day’s operation for a handysize bulk carrier.
If a cargo of 50 such coils is rejected due to damage, that represents around 1,000 tonnes of steel, the annual energy consumption of roughly 250 four-person households, and roughly 1,920 tonnes of embedded CO₂ (several weeks worth of vessel operating days) – before we even begin to consider the additional emissions from replacement, transport, handling, recycling or disposal. The original energy and emissions have effectively been spent in vain. This carries a real environmental cost, as every cargo that is shipped, be it steel, wheat, fertiliser, or anything else, has an energy, emissions and resource footprint.
Happily, it is a cost which is relatively easy to tackle. While the transition to alternative fuels requires extraordinary investment in research, infrastructure and technical development, preventing cargo damage often requires no revolutionary innovation, only knowledge, maintenance, preparation, inspection and sound seamanship.
It is also a cost The Nautical Institute is ideally positioned to address. The transfer of lessons learned from one generation of maritime professionals to the next is critical, as is combining that accumulated experience with new insights and techniques. Our strength as an Institute lies in precisely these areas; in knowledge and the extraordinary reservoir of practical experience represented by our members.
Our challenge is to validate the lessons learned and experience accumulated, and turn experience into knowledge, knowledge into skills, and skills into better cargo care. This wealth of information and experience can then be relayed to all those who need to apply it in their daily work, through our established network of publications, professional development schemes, webinars, conferences, branch events, mentoring and, most importantly, conversations between generations of maritime professionals.
And there is even more we can do as part of the wider transition to a more sustainable maritime industry.
In addition to relaying experience and knowledge, we should also raise awareness of the environmental footprint of cargo claims, connecting cargo care more explicitly with the net zero debate. This will have a direct environmental benefit and, ultimately, support both the business model of shipping and its sustainability. To me, that is what net zero through cargo care is about.
Throughout my term in office, I will devote considerable effort to spreading this message and encouraging our members, industry stakeholders and the wider maritime community to do the same.
Let us move cargo safely and sustainably – together!