Center secures funding for initiating first of its kind Book & Claim System

Today, high costs and limited access to alternative fuels acts as significant braking pads to rapid commercial deployment of green shipping in the maritime sector. A compensation scheme that allows the end customer to buy CO2 compensation is in place, for example, in the aviation sector but does not currently exist in the maritime sector.

Together with partners, the Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller Center for Zero Carbon Shipping has signed a project for the first of its kind Book and Claim System that will provide means for shipping groups, both on a national, regional, and global level to support the decarbonization of their shipping operations with a consumer compensation perspective.

The project, titled ‘Global Shipping Book & Claims System Design’ aims at taking the first steps in defining a public and recognized system for pricing green seaborne transport. With support from the Danish Maritime Fund and partners including Danish Shipping, the Rocky Mountain Institute and Maersk Oil Trading, the project will analyze how a Book & Claim system can be made and how it can be adapted to the Danish operated fleet.

“This project will deep-dive into the benefits and set-up needs required to build a system that matches supply and demand for green cargo shipments. A voluntary Book & Claim system helps shipowners sailing in limited geographies, such as Denmark, to sell their green cargo offerings to customers around the world in a fair and responsible way – a strong incentive encouraging shipowners to take the strategic leap and deciding to invest in the more costly alternative fuels and ships needed“, says Sara Åhlén Björk, Chief Economist at the Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller Center for Zero Carbon Shipping.

The project will partly provide a description of how a Book & Claim system can work, as well as provide a proposal for a roadmap for the Danish shipowners, describing how a Book & Claim system can be designed for their specific fleets.