The challenges posed by the Hammonia retrofit helped convince the environmental organisation Carbon War Room (CWR) to take a fresh approach to moving shipping towards a decarbonised future.

“This was a rare project to have attracted funding,” CWR finance lead manager for maritime James Mitchell told TradeWinds.

“We are now going down a different road. Our direction is to put a lot of focus on finance: preparing financial institutions for climate change risk,” he said.

“Once shipping enters an EU [European Union] carbon trading system or IMO [International Maritime Organization] greenhouse gas policy, that will have real financial impacts on shipowners and their financiers.

"We are looking to help build tools to help understand these risks and ensure vessels are prepared for the market of the 2020s.”

CWR made former Maersk executive Maurice Meehan shipping operations director earlier this year to replace Galen Hon as its head, as part of the transformation.

Meehan stresses collaboration with the shipping industry and the need for transparency.

“We want to make sure we have the legitimacy to accelerate existing programmes or new initiatives towards the decarbonisation battle,” he told TradeWinds.

Meehan joined from Business for Social Responsibility where he led work on transport issues, including climate change and responsible supply chains. Before that he held positions at Maersk Drilling, Maersk Tankers and Maersk Line, during which he led sustainability strategies.

“If you can convince an organisation like Maersk Drilling and some of its customers to start reducing their carbon footprints, you can do it in other places,” said Meehan.

Maersk Drilling used split incentive schemes on carbon emissions, where savings could be $10,000 to $15,000 per day.

CWR was set up in 2009 as a global non-profit by Sir Richard Branson to accelerate the adoption of business solutions to cut carbon emissions. It launched Shipping Efficiency in 2010 and worked with RightShip to develop the greenhouse gas (GHG) Emissions Rating.

In 2014, CWR merged with the Rocky Mountain Institute, which aims to transform global energy use to create a prosperous low-carbon future.