The whole container ship fleet will be affected by the IMO’s new carbon intensity indicator (CII) regulation from next January, but its full impact remains unclear. Clarification on how CII will be implemented in the short run, and how it may tighten as a regulation between now and 2030, is urgently required by shipowners faced with setting up compliance strategies that will necessitate significant investment.
At present, owners are left “second-guessing” the implications of CII, with older tonnage and ships trading on short-sea feeder routes most at risk of getting caught-out. Ultimately, if CII proves too onerous, a significant number of these ships will be forced to the scrap yard, compounding supply chain woes and resulting in cargo moving via other, potentially less efficient, modes of transport.
