Hapag-Lloyd has always invested in modern technology – to protect the environment and provide good quality. Our fleet management introduces innovative solutions. Thus, our seafarers actively
protect the environment in their daily operations.

As part of our sustainability strategy, we as Hapag-Lloyd have committed to reducing our carbon emissions in order to limit the impact on the environment.

Our target it to lower the specific CO2 emissions of our fleet by 20% (per TEUkm) by 2020 compared with 2016 figures.

Here are a few measures helping us to achieve our ambitious target.

Protecting people and the environment is important to us – even beyond the end of a ship’s service life.

• Hapag-Lloyd Ship Recycling Policy and Hazardous Materials Register (IHM)
  As early as May 2014, Hapag-Lloyd’s Executive Board adopted an internal policy on ship recycling stipulating that ships which are no longer needed must be recycled in a safe and environmentally friendly manner. In addition, Hapag-Lloyd has long equipped its newbuilds with an inventory of hazardous materials (IHM) that are either used or installed on the vessel. With this internal guideline, the company was ahead of the European Union, which only started obligating shipping companies to outfit all newbuilds with an IHM at the end of 2015.
• Ship Recycling Transparency Initiative (SRTI)
  Hapag-Lloyd is one of the founding members of the newly launched Ship Recycling Transparency Initiative (SRTI). The initiative aims to supply more and better information on the recycling of ships in the belief that more transparency about different practices in the disposal of ships can eventually help harmonize conditions of competition.
• DNV GL Excellence Green Star Award
  This shows that we also want to minimize the negative impacts of ship recycling on our environment and surroundings. As we have voluntarily committed ourselves to abiding by stricter rules, we were the first company worldwide to receive the “DNV GL Excellence Green Star" Award for adherence to the highest standards in ship recycling.

At Hapag-Lloyd, we continuously analyse the efficiency of our vessels. 24 of the largest ships in the Hapag-Lloyd fleet will get a new bulbous bow, and some will also be fitted with optimised propellers in 2016.

Together, these changes make the ship’s propulsion more efficient and hence resulting in fewer emissions.

The bulbous bow – the nose of the ship – displaces water in a manner that minimizes or even completely eliminates a bow wave. The lower the water resistance on the hull, the less fuel a ship needs in order to travel at the same speed.

Further optimisation potential was identified for Hapag-Lloyd’s most modern vessels, those in the “Hamburg Express” class. The propellers at the stern are replaced in order to adapt the individual performance profile of a vessel.

A connection to onshore power means that auxiliary diesel engines used to generate electricity can remain switched off while the vessels are in port. The result is significantly improved air quality near the harbour. Emissions and noise pollution are reduced.

So far 22 vessels of our fleet have been fitted with the necessary equipment for connecting to onshore power while in port (also known as “Onshore Power Supply” (OPS), “Alternative Maritime Power” (AMP) or “Cold Ironing”). The ten ships of the “Hamburg Express” class are technically prepared and can easily be equipped with Onshore Power units if respective ports offer a power plug in the future.

In special protection zones, known as Emission Control Areas (ECA’s) stringent international emission standards apply for ships. Naturally, Hapag-Lloyd complies to these legally binding regulations and thereby contributes to improvements of air quality and benefits to public health.

Presently our fleet sails worldwide on fuel with an average sulphur content of 2.1%; this is well below the limit of 3.5% currently stipulated by the International Maritime Organization for maritime areas outside defined ECAs.

Hapag-Lloyd goes well beyond what is required by national and international regulations and supports the Trident Alliance in their entirety and joined the Maritime LNG Platform to explore possibilities of LNG usage as alternative fuel. Hapag-Lloyd participates in voluntary conservation programmes in ports around the world.

Map of areas requiring the use of low sulphur fuel

• Blue areas highlight the Emission Control Areas (ECAs) where vessels need to meet special SOx limits.
• The orange line illustrates where vessels in EU ports (marked by blue dots) have to switch to low sulphur fuel with a maximum sulphur content of 0,1 % when berthing for more than two hours. Also Turkish Ports have been in line with this EU Regulation as from Jan 01 2012 (yellow area).
• The red line marks the entire Chinese coastline. There the sulphur content of the fuel may not exceed 0.5%. This Domestic Emissions Control Area (DECA) covers all areas within Chinese territorial waters.
  Taiwan has established a national rule as well.

     Further measures for port areas are under preparation worldwide.

Coastal waters are home to some of the most fragile ecosystems in the world. We treat them with an appropriate level of care and, for this reason, participate in voluntary conservation programmes in ports around the world:

• Environmental Ship Index (ESI) of the World Port Climate Initiative
• The Blue Circle Award from the Port Metro Vancouver recognizes EcoAction Program participants that achieve the highest emissions reductions for the year.
• Voluntary Vessel Speed Reduction Program at the Port of Los Angeles and at the Port of Long Beach - the Green Flag Incentive Program.

All Hapag-Lloyd newbuilds are equipped with highly efficient, chemical-free ballast water treatment facilities in which ballast water is filtered and subjected to UV treatment. Ballast water is needed for the vessel to maintain a stable condition. A vessel’s hull thus contains several ballast water tanks. Ballast water can be pumped back and forth between the tanks as required in order to stabilize the vessel. However, ballast water taken from the sea can transport organisms to foreign waters.

In order to prevent any ecologically undesirable effects, Hapag-Lloyd has adopted a policy of strict ballast water management for all ships without a ballast water treatment facility. On these ships ballast water is only exchanged on the open sea as most organisms are unable to survive there and thus cannot migrate to foreign ecosystems.

Strict standardised regulations regarding the treatment of waste are in force on board all our vessels. These include: sorting waste on board, carefully handling hazardous materials and strict instructions that nothing may be thrown into the sea – a “no garbage over board” policy.

Waste (except for chopped up food leftovers) is thoroughly sorted, separated and properly disposed ashore by authorised recycling service providers.

Hapag-Lloyd’s vessels have highly efficient sewage treatment plants for the treatment of waste water on board. The disposal of sludge (used oil) is fully documented and only takes place at registered, authorised specialist facilities on land.

Hapag-Lloyd possesses one of the largest and most modern reefer container fleets in the world. We were one of the first shipping lines to introduce highly energy-efficient reefers, which currently constitute the bulk of our reefer fleet. To keep the inner temperature at an optimal range from minus 35 to plus 30 degrees centigrade, the refrigerating machine  in the reefer container only consume the power that is needed to maintain the temperature as requested without compromising the accuracy. This intelligent performance control supports the environment by saving large quantities of energy.

In addition to high-performance wall insulation, we are increasingly improving our containers by relying on
lightweight materials like aluminum for the reefers’ interior cladding. This reduces reefer weight, a vessel’s fuel consumption and, consequently, our CO2 footprint.

Carrier Transicold developed the refrigerator unit, which operates with CO2 instead of conventional
coolant. The CO2 used is a natural gas from the atmosphere. If it escapes during improper handling of the refrigerator unit, it causes no substantial climate damage. Conventional coolant, on the contrary, can harm the environment if it leaks from the cooling circuit. While using CO2 is the most difficult solution, it is also the most sustainable one. Hapag-Lloyd has been the chosen company to be involved in the testing of the unit.  

Our state of the art Fleet Support Center (FSC) allows us to monitor all of our vessels. From there we optimize workflows at sea and on land to help reduce our emissions.

The FSC also helps our vessels identify severe weather pockets at an early stage allowing us to navigate around bad weather. Careful routing can then save fuel, as well as keeping our crew and our customer’s cargo safe.

We closely cooperate with our industrial partners such as engine manufacturers and shipyards to develop environmentally friendlier technologies. Prototypes are tested on our ships on a parallel basis. Hapag-Lloyd has always aimed at being the first shipping line to deploy these technologies in our daily operations.