Carrier emissions intensity varies up to 35% on major container routes

VesselBot says a new analysis of 83,817 voyages shows that carrier choice can change Well-to-Wake emissions intensity by as much as 35% on the same trade lane. The findings suggest shippers need voyage-level data, not fleet averages, to judge carrier efficiency and operational performance.

Why it matters: - Carrier averages can hide major differences in emissions performance on the same route. - VesselBot says shipper decisions are affected by cargo volume, vessel utilization, port time and routing, not just published fleet-wide emissions figures. - The report shows why absolute emissions alone can misstate efficiency when voyages carry different loads.

What happened: - VesselBot released Decoding Maritime Emissions, Q3 2026: Stable Intensity, Diverging Voyage Performance on October 29, 2026. - The analysis covers 83,817 voyages by 6,730 container-carrying vessels. - On four major fronthaul trades, the gap between the most and least efficient carrier ranged from 20% to 35%. - Fleet-wide average Well-to-Wake emissions intensity stayed broadly flat at 235.1 g CO₂e/TEU-km, up 0.5% year over year. - Total emissions fell 1.9% year over year to 55.5 million tonnes CO₂e. - Transport work rose 1.2% to 712 billion TEU-km. - Tracked voyages fell 2.8%. - Average voyage duration rose to 5.3 days, the highest of the first three quarters of 2026.

The details: - Five of six vessel-size categories improved emissions intensity year over year. - Panamax intensity improved 3.4%. - VLCS intensity improved 12.9%. - Feeder intensity rose 1.3% to 285.9 g CO₂e/TEU-km. - Feeders accounted for 65% of all voyages, which helped keep the fleet average stable even as category-level trends diverged. - The Suez Canal Authority reported 166 medium and large containerships transiting between July and September 2026, up from 16 a year earlier. - Average voyage duration on China/East Asia–Northern Europe was 33.2 days. - Average voyage duration on China/East Asia–Mediterranean was 29.7 days. - Most voyages on those Asia-Europe trades still used the Cape of Good Hope route. - Average port time per voyage rose 6.2% year over year to 27.3% across vessel categories. - VLCS port time increased to 2.9 days, the largest increase among vessel classes. - On the Northern Europe–North America East Coast trade, port time jumped 52.1% to 2.1 days. - Longer port stays can reduce emissions efficiency because vessels keep burning fuel without adding transport work. - On direct China/East Asia–Northern Europe voyages, Evergreen recorded the highest average emissions among the three carriers examined at 14,273 tonnes CO₂e. - Evergreen also had the lowest intensity on that route at 47.4 g CO₂e/TEU-km, about 17% below the trade average of 57.3. - Evergreen’s voyages carried 20,400 TEU on average at 96% utilization. - Voyages below 50 g CO₂e/TEU-km averaged 80% utilization. - Voyages at or above 800 g CO₂e/TEU-km averaged 32% utilization. - Of the 2,226 highest-intensity voyages, 2,012 were operated by Feeder and Panamax vessels. - NeoPanamax and VLCS represented just 7% of voyages but generated 43% of transport work. - VesselBot combines AIS-based tracking with vessel-specific digital twin models to estimate fuel consumption and Well-to-Wake emissions at voyage level.

Between the lines: - The report draws a line between benchmarking a carrier and estimating the emissions of one shipment. - Fleet and trade averages are useful for trend tracking, but they do not capture how a specific voyage was operated. - The findings point to a market where operational choices, not just vessel class, drive large differences in carbon intensity. - VesselBot CEO Constantine Komodromos said average emissions figures can show whether the market is improving or deteriorating, but they do not explain what happens on individual voyages. - Komodromos said shippers need emissions data that helps evaluate carriers, spot inefficiencies and support transportation decisions.

What's next: - VesselBot is offering media interviews on the report findings. - The company says the full report is available through its announcement. - More voyage-level benchmarking may become more important as shippers look for evidence to compare carriers and route performance.

The bottom line: - The same trade lane can produce very different emissions outcomes depending on the carrier, vessel size and operating conditions.