Welcome to this section which is dedicated to focusing on Samskip's environmental strategies, actions, and performance. Here, we delve into our comprehensive approach towards to combating climate change, reducing pollution, safeguarding biodiversity, and ecosystems, promoting circular economy principles, and optimising resource utilisation throughout our operations and value chain.
Explore how we are innovating to minimize greenhouse gas emissions, enhance air and water quality, and protect natural habitats. Learn about our initiatives to embrace circularity, reduce waste, and promote responsible resource management across every stage of our operations.
Join us on our journey towards a more sustainable future as we share our progress transparently, challenges, and achievements. Samskip and its value chain can drive meaningful change and pave the way for a sustainable, more resilient world.
Together we can protect our planet!
As a pioneering multimodal logistics company, and as stated since 2021, Samskip acknowledges the urgent need to address our environmental footprint amidst pressing challenges like climate change, pollution, resource depletion, biodiversity loss, and pollution.
Our commitment to improving environmental sustainability as a core principle drives us to actively develop comprehensive strategies to minimize our impacts and maximize positive contributions to global initiatives such as the Paris agreement, the TNFD, and the Sustainable Development Goals.
Transparency is key; we openly share our progress from strategy development to ongoing reporting. Through a culture of stewardship and accountability, we strive to inspire positive change in the transportation industry, prioritizing resource allocation aligned with our Materiality Assessment.
Every journey counts. We are creating sustainable transport solutions for future generations.
Samskip relies on its carbon footprinting system to guide its way and avoid getting lost at sea. We use a precise carbon footprinting system to calculate emissions and assess reduction initiatives. The methodology was updated in 2023 and is being integrated into our IT systems. This will also be available in the MySamskip Customer Portal, next year Our methodology aligns with the ISO14083 carbon footprinting standards and the GLEC Framework.
In 2023, Samskip inaugurated a customised tool to track emissions across its value chain. The tool was built on the GHG Protocol and GLEC framework, enabling Samskip to measure and monitor its operational emissions and shipments transported. With this tool, we contribute to standardising emission tracking and transparency throughout the value chain and the industry. No matter the journey or transportation mode, this will help its consumers understand the emissions associated with Samskip's services.
Samskip's sustainability efforts in 2023 focused on three key areas.
In terms of direct emissions from owned or controlled sources (scope 1), Samskip saw an increased adoption of biofuels across its vessel and trucking operations. This made biofuels the primary driver of decarbonisation compared to the previous year. Additionally, the company made progress by integrating more rail connections and optimising its multimodal network, which contributed to emission reductions.
When it comes to indirect emissions from the generation of purchased energy, categorised as scope 2, Samskip has maintained stable electricity consumption with no significant changes. We are actively engaged in gathering more comprehensive information on the sources of electricity used for rail operations, as a substantial portion of this electricity is certified as renewable. This commitment to transparency and renewable energy is a key aspect of our sustainability strategy, and we look forward to reporting on this in the following year's report.
Furthermore, Samskip calculated its other indirect emissions from scope 3, including those from various categories specified in the table below, as part of the submission process for the Science Based Targets (SBT) .
By focusing on biofuel adoption, increasing rail integration, and network optimisation for direct emissions, monitoring electricity sources for indirect emissions from energy consumption, and quantifying other indirect emissions, Samskip has demonstrated a robust and comprehensive approach to reducing its carbon footprint. This effort aligns with our sustainability goals and underscores our commitment to better data management.
Samskip has established Science-Based Targets (SBTs) that are currently under validation process by the Science-Based Target Initiative (SBTi). This is a crucial step towards contributing to the Paris Agreement. To achieve this, we conducted a meticulous assessment and screening of our Scope 3 emissions, as mandated by the rigorous criteria of the Net Zero Standard and Maritime Standard by the SBTi, and in line with the Global Logistics Emissions Council (GLEC) Framework and Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Protocol.
In 2023, the total energy usage from vessels, trucks, barges, trains, offices, and warehouses was 2,559,212.319 gigajoules (2,559 petajoules), representing a 2.03% decrease compared to 2022.
Samskip uses renewable biofuels for part of its vessel and truck fleets, and renewable electricity for a significant part of its trains and offices' energy consumption[7]. The share of energy usage from renewable sources is 24%, reflecting a 3% increase from 2022 and our commitment to transition to renewable energy as a strategy to reduce our carbon footprint.
Samskip has made various efforts to address climate change for some time now. There have been many years of setting targets, investing in transition plans, embracing industry innovation, and continuously reporting our journey which have positioned Samskip at the forefront of the logistics industry.
This sense of urgency stems from the alarming rate and increasing scale of climate change threats for our society. Samskip also understands its role as a partner in supporting the navigation of expanding regulations and stakeholder demands, by contributing to its customers' own efforts. We have adopted comprehensive strategies to mitigate emissions throughout the value chain. These include investing in fuel-efficient technologies, transitioning to alternative fuels, and working with stakeholders to identify the impact of our operations on them and how to work together to address them.
In response to our industry's impact on climate change, risks from regulatory pressures and volatile energy markets loom large. They were exemplified, recently, by the EU ETS implementation for maritime companies which are impacting freight rates in 2024.
By continuously reducing greenhouse gas emissions and decreasing dependence on fossil fuels, Samskip aims to mitigate the risks associated with climate change, ensuring consistent and stable services for clients.
We thoroughly examined the specific requirements outlined in the Maritime Sector guidance, delving into crucial factors such as the composition of our vessel fleet, fuel consumption, activity metrics (tonne-kilometres), and Well-to-Wake (WTW) emissions.
However, we faced challenges due to the low transparency of data across various industry partners, particularly those operating outside the European Union. This required us to adopt innovative approaches to access and analyse relevant data.
We employed a multifaceted approach to ensure comprehensive coverage of all relevant Scope 3 categories. This involved combining actual data, expenditure records, proxy data, and sophisticated modelling techniques to estimate emissions across the entire value chain accurately.
As a result, Samskip now has a holistic view of its carbon footprint and can pursue ambitious sustainability targets aligned with scientific principles.
The Green Shore Power initiative, which Rotterdam Shortsea Terminals (RST) and Samskip successfully launched in July 2023. Our goal is to significantly reduce the amount of CO2 emissions produced by docked vessels by providing new, clean onshore power supply solutions.
Currently, docked vessels generate onboard electricity by burning gasoil, resulting in high CO2 emissions. With the introduction of green onshore power, the shipping sector can expect to reduce CO2 emissions by 5 megatons per year, which is equivalent to 3.7% of global shipping emissions.
Furthermore, this innovation puts Samskip at the forefront of preparing for the FuelEU Maritime regulation, which mandates shore-power connectivity from 2030 onwards. We believe that the power of collective efforts is the only answer to the urgency of global surface warming.
For more information: RST and Samskip join forces to launch first shore power green initiative
Rail freight by Samskip is for 99.7% electrified, the remaining 0.3% comes from ultrashort repositioning of trains using diesel locomotives. The network we use to substitute trucks to move cargo over rail is fully electric. Logistically, switching from road to rail and vice-versa easily allows Samskip to optimise its route by using each mode’s main advantages: speed, price, and energy efficiency for rail and better access to delivery locations by road. In addition, Samskip has been using this flexibility to enhance its environmental performance by substituting trucks for trains as much as possible, considering the availability of a rail network.
In 2023, Samskip expanded its rail services network by adding four new routes to its Duisburg rail terminal. These new rail services connect the Samskip Terminal Duisburg to Padborg in Denmark, Macon in France, and Padua and Verona in Italy.
The Duisburg terminal already serves as the hub for Samskip's north-south rail services between Germany, Sweden, and Italy. It also connects north to Denmark, east to Lubeck, Poland, and beyond, and west to Samskip's high-frequency shortsea connections in Rotterdam and Amsterdam.
These new rail service additions come at a time of increasing driver shortages across Europe's road haulage sector. They aim to provide reliable, efficient, and sustainable rail service capacity along four major European routes, each connecting Duisburg directly with leading regional centres for unitized freight.
"Multimodal is not only a more carbon efficient method of transport, but increasingly cost efficient [...]. With only one handling operation required at Duisburg, we ensure that pick-up and delivery is always fast and reliable. These new services represent another important step towards Samskip's vision for ensuring that the most sustainable logistics solution in the freight market is also increasingly distinguishable for its ease of use."
The transportation sector has a vast reach and relies heavily on fossil fuels, which has led to consequential environmental impacts affecting air, soil, and water quality.
To protect the ecosystems it relies on, and human health on all parts of the world, Samskip focuses on offering multimodal services combining fewer polluting means of transportation, operate biofuels, implement pollution control technologies such as Exhaust Gas Cleaning Systems, and invests in sustainable infrastructure, such as Shore Power Systems.
Pollution is also a significant financial threat to companies, as it can lead to regulatory fines, costly remediation efforts, operational disruptions, economic losses, litigation expenses, and regulatory sanctions.
All these consequences can damage a company's reputation, profitability, and long-term sustainability goals, all while simultaneously harming the environment. Samskip understands the importance of managing environmental risks and has taken proactive measures to implement adequate environmental management systems. We ensure compliance with regulations to mitigate these risks and safeguard our business continuity and customers' interests.
The International Maritime Organization (IMO) regulates sulphur oxide (SOx) emissions from ships, offering two compliance options: using fuels with limited sulphur content or employing EGCS. Effective January 1, 2020, the global sulphur limit decreased drastically. However, EGCSs have proven more effective in scrubbing SOx and other harmful air emissions, like Particulate Matter (PM) and Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs).
To reduce the emissions of harmful air pollutants, Samskip has equipped 2 ships in 2023.
Water pollution could result from shipping activities like unfiltered ballast water discharge and fuel spills, which endanger aquatic habitats, marine biodiversity, and coastal ecosystems.
Because the water that’s used in ballast tanks to stabilise the vessels is collected and discharged in different places, ballast water management is essential in limiting invasive aquatic species transfer. To avoid disrupting ecosystems, Samskip has installed filters on 100% of its owned vessels, which ensures organisms are not transferred from one marine ecosystem to another.
Samskip takes proactive measures to reduce ecological harm, to preserve environmental integrity. The principles of circularity are integrated, incrementally, by implementing measures of reduction, recycling, and adequate treatment.
Samskip's waste management system includes the following:
Samskip closely monitors water consumption, identifies potential reduction areas, and adjusts usage accordingly. See table for more information on Samskip’s water management system.
Innovation is central. Samskip embraces sustainable solutions.
The market for sustainable solutions, technologies, and alternative fuels for the transportation sector is constantly evolving. Samskip actively makes an effort to stay up to date with these changes. We consistently assess the efficiency of our investments in tackling the problem of climate change. Samskip has invested in Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) and Biofuel as transitional, medium-term solutions to heavily carbon-intensive traditional fuels. In 2023, our five 100% biofuel-running vessels has allowed us to reduce our vessels’ CO2e by an estimated 24% (against a confirmed 23,2% reduction with the four vessels running in 2022)!
We are always open to new transformations that are beneficial to the environment. If new advanced solutions are discovered and are backed by consensual research, we will redirect our resources to remain at the forefront of environmental sustainability.
But Samskip is not just waiting for others to find solutions. We have been working relentlessly on developing fully functioning hydrogen container ships internally. We are proud to announce that we are the first company in the world to have achieved this feat. The ships will be launched for their first journey in 2026!
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“What’s it like to develop the world’s first hydrogen-powered shortsea container vessels?” We got to ask Erik Hofmeester, Head of Vessel Management, about all the technical ins and outs, the obstacles and hurdles on the way, and the future of shipping.
With the building of the Samskip SeaShuttles, we’re at the forefront of technological innovation. Samskip is building two zero-emission container vessels, equipped with hydrogen fuel cells. The vessel has the option to sail on fossil “marine gas oil” to safeguard operational flexibility as well. A specifically designed vessel hull is reducing a great share of power requirements, two sail-like structures harness the power of the wind to further decrease the need for energy. The Samskip SeaShuttles will be deployed on a “green corridor” between Rotterdam, the Netherlands and Oslo, Norway where they will provide our customers with zero-emissions transport and a way to decarbonize their own supply chains.
Erik, Samskip is building the world's first hydrogen-powered shortsea container vessels, the Samskip SeaShuttles. That's a huge leap forward. Can you tell us about the technology behind these ships?
Absolutely. We're using hydrogen fuel cells to achieve zero emissions. These cells require a massive 3.2 MW of power, which is why batteries weren't an option – they'd be too heavy and bulky. Methanol is another possibility, but it still emits carbon and obtaining it can be tricky. Ammonia might work for deepsea applications, but for now, hydrogen offers the most potential for our needs.
Interesting. And where does this green hydrogen come from?
Ideally, we'll use solar and wind power. This not only reduces our carbon footprint but also takes pressure off the already congested power grid. In Norway, hydroelectric plants can be another source. We're also exploring import options from the Middle East and Central Africa.
Why the specific route between Rotterdam and Oslo?
Unlike traditional shipping companies that often sail on very different global routes, Samskip’s operations are very predictable. This allows us to tailor vessels for specific trade routes. For the Rotterdam-Oslo corridor, we can optimize factors like speed, port operations, and bunkering times to keep container slot costs down to compete with cheaper fossil fuels.
Bunkering hydrogen, how would that work? Can you tell us something about the refuelling process.
We're essentially using the same principles as Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG). The key difference is that we're using liquid hydrogen (LH2) because of the high power demands. Compressed hydrogen takes up too much space and presents safety concerns due to the high pressure and numerous connections involved. The LH2 tank, on the other hand, is a single unit with a fixed location on the after deck, simplifying refuelling procedures. We expect to refuel once a week in Rotterdam or Oslo, with each ship taking roughly 14 tons of LH2 per round trip.
How many SeaShuttles are you building, and are there plans for more?
Currently, we're building two SeaShuttles for the Rotterdam-Oslo route. This design is seen as a potential standard for shortsea shipping, like how Tesla revolutionized electric cars. We're already thinking about other vessels with the same concept, but tailored to other regions. For even higher power demands (around 10 MW), we're considering methanol dual-fuel options for larger container ships.
One thing that stands out in the vessel design are the two standing structures on top of the vessel. Could you explain to us what those are?
These are essentially wind-powered sails that help improve fuel efficiency. They act like wings, catching wind and generating additional thrust, reducing the load on the main engine. Sensors and automatic adjustments ensure optimal performance based on wind conditions. We expect fuel savings of 5-8% thanks to these ventofoils.
Building the world's first hydrogen-powered container ship must come with its share of challenges. What are the biggest ones?
Regulations are a major hurdle. There are no established safety procedures (Hazid) for ships using this technology. We're working closely with various authorities and suppliers to develop a comprehensive risk assessment and mitigation plan. Since such high-powered hydrogen ships haven't existed before, we're encountering many new technical challenges related to safety concepts and infrastructure. Another challenge is securing a reliable supply of LH2 at a reasonable price in Rotterdam and Oslo. The infrastructure and permits for hydrogen bunkering are still under development, but there's a strong collaborative effort to make it happen!
At Samskip, we believe that sustainability is a shared responsibility. We understand that our supply chain contributes significantly to our emissions; thus, we collaborate with a diverse range of suppliers and partners in various locations worldwide to promote sustainable practices and operations. We aim to drive sustainability through our value chain by incorporating sustainability principles when choosing suppliers and delivering value to our customers. We evaluate suppliers for their sustainability practices from environmental, social, and business conduct perspectives and identify opportunities to support their development wherever feasible. At Samskip, we are committed to building a sustainable future, one step and supplier at a time.
We strive to achieve operational excellence while minimising our negative impact on our environment and society. Therefore, it is essential to have strict selection criteria to ensure that our new and existing suppliers align with our priorities and vision. As part of this supplier-checking process, we evaluate the following aspects:
We conduct audits on our suppliers to track their standards and certifications, such as ISO14001 and ISO9001. In addition, depending on the category and type of supplier, we conduct multiple audits a year regarding topics such as business ethics, human rights, environmental sustainability, and quality.
We have two supporting mechanisms in place that help us monitor the compliance of current suppliers and the fit of potential new suppliers:
As the sustainable business landscape evolves, so should our expectations for companies we engage in business with. So, in 2022, we updated our Supplier Code of Conduct. It now has an increased focus on sustainability in the broadest sense of the word, covering topics on environmental and social sustainability, and business ethics.
We take compliance seriously, and our Supplier Code of Conduct covers all crucial areas, such as business integrity, labour practices, health and safety, and environmental management. The Code lays out our expectations for suppliers to align with our core principles of business sustainability, mainly prioritising Environment, People, Customers, and Quality. We also require suppliers to follow international frameworks, including the United Nations Global Compact, UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, and the International Labour Organisation’s Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights on Work (ILOD).
To ensure that we are all on the same page, we include the Code with new contracts and ask suppliers to agree to these requirements. Our approach guarantees that everyone involved works together to achieve sustainability practices that benefit society.
We value our relationship with suppliers and strive to work together with them and our network of stakeholders to improve our sustainability efforts. To achieve this, we continuously monitor our progress and gather information about suppliers’ practices through a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Questionnaire. We track our progress and collect data about suppliers’ practices through this questionnaire. This tool assesses our suppliers’ ethical, social, and environmental performance, both present and (potentially) future.
In 2023, we sent the questionnaire to our top 45 suppliers (accounting 80% of our direct operating spend). The results are promising showing that overall: