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Joint effort slashes P&O Ferries carbon emissions

[ January 10, 2023   //   ]

P&O Ferries says it has reduced its carbon footprint by 85,000 tons thanks to new shipping line partnerships allowing it to sail less frequently and maximise efficiency.

The company’s integrated transport and logistics operations have achieved their best-ever sustainability performance, a 9% carbon reduction, it adds.

The DP World-owned company’s calculations are understood to have been adjusted to take into account periods where services were not running consistently compared with previous years including the COVID-19 pandemic or last year’s seamen’s dispute. Data compares against like-for-like data in the last normal running year, in 2019.

P&O Fedrries plans to introduce two new 230-metre super-ferries this year, which it says are the most sustainable ships ever to sail on the English Channel, resulting in further carbon emission reductions this year. The two new double-ended Channel super-ferries will cut fuel use by 40% through a combination of fuel and battery propulsion.

Chief executive, Peter Hebblethwaite, said: “I am delighted that we have made outstanding progress in reducing our carbon footprint in 2022 and can promise that we shall do everything we can to eliminate another 40,000 tons from our operation in the next three years.

“The lion’s share of the reduction is attributable to our innovative space charter agreement signed with our competitor DFDS 18 months ago, whereby we make freight space on our Dover-Calais ships available to one another to maintain customer service levels on the route and ensure its continued resilience.”

The space charter agreement with DFDS will allow P&O Ferries to sail just 9,000 times on the English Channel in 2023, compared with 16,000 in 2019, the last comparable year. The agreement also reduces the time truck drivers spend waiting at the ports, giving them access to a departure every 36 minutes.

Other efficiency measures in 2022 included fitting new propellers on an Irish Sea ship, which saved 7% of carbon emissions, and changes to the Larne-Cairnryan timetable, which led to 370 fewer sailings in the year and a 3.6% carbon reduction.

Future sustainability initiatives include a hull painting programme and replacing propellers on other ships.

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