Let’s seek sustainability of shipping, maritime affairs

A ship in the Indian Ocean.

Photo credit: File | Nation Media Group

What you need to know:

  • At the centre of this globalisation is the shipping and maritime industry that facilitates the smooth transit of goods to consumers in the most cost-effective means.
  • But in a world rife with terrorism, a porous port can present an existential threat.
  • Sustainability of shipping also lies in the just treatment of close to two million seafarers who run it.

The invention of the standardised shipping container by American businessman Malcolm McLean in the 1950s transformed shipping of goods from a labour-intensive process due to handling of individual pieces of cargo, making most goods unworthy of shipping overseas, to an affordable and reliable one.

At the centre of this globalisation is the shipping and maritime industry that facilitates the smooth transit of goods to consumers in the most cost-effective means. However, this critical industry remains out of public scrutiny as most people live a landlocked lifestyle away from the blue oceans. For those living at the coast, the heightened security at ports makes it inaccessible. But in a world rife with terrorism, a porous port can present an existential threat.

Shipping has also been affected by technological disruption, leading to mergers of major shipping lines into powerful global corporations and the building of bigger ships for economies of scale. One of the largest ships, COSCO Shipping Universe, built in 2018 and operated by China Ocean Shipping Company (COSCO), is 400 meters long and 58.6 metres wide with a carrying capacity of 21,237 TEU (Twenty- foot Equivalent Unit container), almost double those handled at Mombasa port in a week.

Major pollutant

September 24 was set aside as World Maritime Day to reflect on the role of the industry in the realisation of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. This year’s theme, “Sustainable shipping for a sustainable planet”, resonates with the climate debate.

Although greenhouse gas emissions in shipping are not as significant as in other sectors, at 3.1 per cent of the annual global carbon emissions, bunker fuel is a major pollutant. The heavy residual oil left over after diesel and jet fuel are extracted from crude oil during refinery, and used in ship propulsion, when burnt it produces black carbon, shipping’s second-largest climate change driver after carbon dioxide.

With some 50,000 ships at sea at any given time, the impact of normal shipping to climate change is set to increase to 10 per cent of the annual GHG emissions by 2050, according to a 2014 IMO (International Maritime Organization) study.

Sustainability of shipping also lies in the just treatment of close to two million seafarers who run it. Due to travel restrictions imposed by governments over the Covid-19 pandemic, crew changes were delayed, trapping hundreds of thousands of seafarers aboard ships in the high seas with some abandoned by their employers without food or salaries.

Without shipping, a net importer like Kenya would grind to a halt as virtually 80 per cent of commodities are ferried by sea. With the revival of the Kenya National Shipping Line and Bandari Maritime Academy, the sustainable shipping theme has to resonate in all its supporting regulatory frameworks.


Mr Kinyua is a shipping and maritime affairs writer. [email protected] @briangicheru2