Reducing shipping emissions – how can satellite technology help?

We often hear in maritime circles the well versed but still startling fact: if ocean shipping were a country, it would be the sixth-largest carbon emitter, releasing more CO2 annually than Germany. In fact, if we carry on unchecked, global shipping carbon emissions could rise from 3% to 17% of the world’s total carbon emissions by 2050.

The pressure is on to reduce shipping carbon emissions

The industry already knows it has to address shipping carbon emissions. The pressure is not just the political desire to meet the Net Zero 2050 target – it is coming from all angles.

• Nine big companies including Amazon, Ikea and Unilever have signed up to a pledge to only move cargo on ships using zero-carbon fuel by 2040.
• The impact of ESG (Environmental, social and governance) and major bank lending standards.
• Even employees are beginning to demand credible, standardized information to support long-term assessments of decarbonization.

Unlike the motor industry where decisions around power technology, future fuels and supply chains has made notable progress over the past 10 years, the global shipping industry infrastructure is still in its infancy due to its complexity and differences of opinion from influential shipping nations.

Reducing shipping emissions today

Whilst bigger infrastructure changes are being actively pushed for the longer term, connectivity will play a further role in reducing shipping CO2 emissions and our transition to Net Zero.

Digital transformation and the adoption of smart technology with low-latency, fibre-like satellite connectivity such as OneWeb can have a significant impact on reducing shipping CO2 emissions and meeting national and global regulations. It can allow operators to source essential data at sea by accessing terrestrial-quality speed and a tenfold increase in bandwidth at sea. This digital transformation allows them to analyse data wherever they are in the world, in real-time, in order to inform their environmental strategies.

Pairing OneWeb’s connectivity with AST’s iRAMS Telematics solutions, provide all maritime vessel operators the opportunity to operate their vessels at peak performance and in turn reduce shipping carbon emissions.

• Fuel efficiency – The iRAMS platform can help reduce fuel usage and subsequent costs by 25%. Data highlights any inefficiencies caused by the skipper or vessels behaviour.
• Environmental monitoring – Dependent on a vessel owners needs, iRAMS can help monitor such metrics as CO2 emissions, fuel burn rate, engine performance parameters, electrical monitoring, vessel motion etc. With the consistent connectivity provided by OneWeb, all these elements can help identify performance deficiencies on a vessel and reduce energy usage and reduce potential harmful emissions.
• Remote asset control – iRAMS doesn’t just offer monitoring as a versatile IoT (Internet of Things) application for telematics – it can provide remote asset control, allowing you to potentially address performance deficiencies and adjust controls remotely from anywhere in the world.

Together we can achieve Net Zero

The scope of what can be measured and managed remotely through AST’s iRAMS platform is greatly accelerated by the fibre-like, low latency connectivity provided by OneWeb.

As OneWeb’s first and most experienced maritime partner AST are already looking at how our partnership can help the shipping industry make concerted efforts in reducing carbon emissions and help support the wider decarbonization agenda.