A credit rating and analysis firm based in Germany has launched the first dedicated database to display Carbon Intensity Indicator (CII) ratings for the world’s commercial maritime fleet. According to Scope ESG Analysis, the database product which is known as Ship Review, will enhance the transparency of ships’ environmental, sustainability, and reliability/safety performance.

Based on its analysis of 2020 data, Ship Review projects that more than a third of the world’s fleet is in danger of failing to meet the upcoming restrictions. By January 2023, ships that receive a D rating (13.9 percent against the 2020 baseline) for three successive years or an E rating (21.8 percent based on 2020 data) in any given year will need to implement remediation plans. 

Ship Review includes independent ESG assessments of more than 70,000 vessels is based on estimates of several carbon intensity indicators, including the Annual Efficiency Ratio, the Energy Efficiency Operational Indicator as well as total CO2 emitted in a year. According to Scope, by comparing the emissions of different ship types, ship management companies, and specific voyages allows users to drill down and select alternatives that emit less CO2 per cargo carried.

The calculations include CII rating estimates for all applicable ship types, currently numbering more than 40,000 vessels, applying the IMO’s methodology and using certified monitoring, reporting and verification data as well as data from satellites for distances sailed for more accuracy.

The IMO is introducing the rating system as a tool to assist the maritime industry in meeting the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Strategy’s target. The CII measures ships’ operational efficiency in grams of CO2 emitted according to deadweight tonnage and nautical miles traveled and will be a core input into a ship’s annual ranking, which runs on a scale of A to E. (Shutterstock  photo)