With regards to the maritime security situation in the Red Sea: We are following the situation closely and are in dialogue with ship owners carrying cargo on our behalf and with other actors in the industry.
We have chosen to reroute ships away from the area. Until further notice, we have also paused new activities that involves transit through the region.
With over 170 vessels working for us on the Norwegian continental shelf, including supply, standby, anchor handling vessels and tankers, we are a significant charterer on the market.
We do not own any vessels, but we lease them from a number of different shipping companies, which means that the shipowners are responsible for safe operation and follow-up of the vessels, while Equinor decides where the various vessels will sail and the tasks they will perform.
All shipping companies operating for us must be prequalified before contracts are entered into, and all vessels undergo regular thorough inspections.
Our seaborne transportation of crude, liquid refinery products, liquid petroleum gas and LNG volumes involves more than 2300 voyages worldwide per year and moves about 100 million tonnes annually.
Today, over 170 ships are at work collecting and transporting energy products, fetching and bringing equipment and providing emergency standby services just for Equinor – an enormous number of transport movements.
The maritime sector represents 6% of total greenhouse gas emissions in Norway and 2–3% of global emissions.
As a producer and supplier of fuel to the maritime sector, Equinor has extensive maritime activity around the world, including around 175 vessels on contract with the company at any one time.
Equinor has set the following ambitions for its maritime activity:
As a supplier of fuel to the maritime sector, Equinor’s ambition is as follows:
The ocean, and the expertise associated with it, is one of Equinor’s priority areas. Low carbon shipping is a natural part of this commitment.
We are undertaking a comprehensive newbuilding plan to renew our shipping fleet.
The vessels are equipped with new carbon-efficient technologies such as dual fuel LNG, LPG, LVOC (Liquified Volatile Organic Compounds) to be blended with LNG as fuel, and hybrid battery systems.
A wide variety of measures are employed to reduce emissions from our logistical operations:
Norway has established a programme to achieve the world’s most efficient and environmentally friendly shipping.
The Green Shipping Programme aims to find scalable solutions for efficient and environmentally friendly shipping. The results will be cost-effective emission cuts, economic growth, increased competitiveness, and new jobs in Norway. Authorities and industry actors are participating in the programme and are working together to achieve these goals.
What we will achieve:
The Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller Center for Zero Carbon Shipping is a not-for-profit, independent research- and development center working across the energy- and shipping sectors with industry, academia, and authorities. With Partners, the Center explores viable decarbonization pathways, facilitates the development and implementation of new energy technologies; builds confidence in new concepts and their supply chains; and accelerates the transition by defining and maturing viable strategic pathways to the required systemic change.
The SCC is an initiative developed by the Global Maritime Forum, an international not-for-profit organisation, with the aim to decarbonise shipping. The initiative was launched in October 2020, and provides a shared, global framework to quantitatively assess and disclose emissions from vessel chartering activities.
The goal is to be transparent on environmental performance and thereby increase awareness, unite fronts and drive improvements in the industry. The SCC is consistent with the policies and ambitions of the International Maritime Organization (IMO), including its ambition to reduce GHG emissions from international shipping by at least 50% by 2050.
Currently, 34 charterers have signed up for the SCC. This includes peers like Shell, TotalEnergies and Chevron, as well as other major charterers of shipping services like Maersk Tankers, Trafigura and Anglo American. Equinor became a signatory of SCC in 2020.