Shipping plays a key role in the economy, with almost 50% of goods traded between the EU and non-EU countries being transported by sea, according to 2024 data from the original source. The share of goods transported by sea rose by nine percentage points for imports and by over four points for exports between 2002 and 2023.

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Economic Impact and Disruption

According to the OECD, over 80% of global goods are transported by sea. Hakan Agnevall, CEO of Wartsila, highlighted the economic importance by referencing the 2021 grounding of the container vessel Ever Given in the Suez Canal. “The estimates are that every day the cost for the global economy of the Suez Canal being shut down was EUR10 billion,” Agnevall said. Between 1995-2020, 22.8 million people were employed on average through maritime industries such as shipbuilding, equipment manufacturing, and maritime R&D. Agnevall estimated that 1 in 5 jobs in Europe depend on the export industry through shipping’s wider impact.

Sustainability Challenges and Solutions

The shipping industry accounts for around 2-3% of global CO2 emissions, roughly the same as the aviation industry or Japan. As global regulators like the UN’s International Maritime Organization (IMO) work to introduce a levy on carbon emissions, the industry is seeking ways to adapt. “There are about 100,000 large vessels out there in the world and we cannot just scrap them,” Agnevall explained. To reduce emissions of the existing fleet, Wartsila has developed a carbon capture technology which can extract around 70% of the CO2 from an engine’s exhaust. Around half of today’s fleet is propelled by diesel, and 48% is prepared for alternative fuels. Agnevall highlighted that liquified natural gas (LNG) is categorised as an alternative fuel, despite being a fossil fuel.

Source: IndexBox Market Intelligence Platform