HANSA 11-2022

SCHIFFFAHRT | SHIPPING
»As the number one we do need to lead«
Executive Vice President Bud Darr represents MSC, the world’s leading liner company, in
maritime policy and government affairs – for both the cargo and cruise branch. To accelerate
decarbonization of shipping, more efforts are needed, he says in an interview with HANSA
Mr. Darr, we are talking on the occasion of
the German »Schifffahrtstag« in Bremen.
What’s your impression of today’s conference
and what was the reason for you to
come to Germany?
Bud Darr: Germany is a very important
market for us also, in particular, with regard
to the environmental issues including decarbonization.
So it was a good fit to spend
some time with the local community and
talk about things of mutual importance.
Sustainability has been one of the core
topics if not the motto of today’s conference.
What is the overall strategy of MSC when it
comes to reaching climate goals, rebuilding
the fleet and using alternative fuels?
Darr: We have a net-zero target for 2050. We
will get there through the way we power our
ships, not relying on extra law settings. We
are making investments today, we are working
on partnerships with current and future
energy providers to make sure that we have a
supply of multiple fuels, and we are also making
advances on both the new and the existing
fleet with regard to energy efficiency and
technologies that can be used to improve
that. Because every gramme of fuel that is not
consumed today is 3.2 gramme of CO2 that is
not emitted in the atmosphere. We are working
on all these topics simultaneously.
© Scheer
MSC was blamed several times by the NGO
»Transport & Environment« for being one
of most emission-producing companies in
the world. How do you comment on this?
Darr: These arguments have something true
about it. But, the demand for our services
has grown strongly. That’s how we moved
from number 2 to number 1, to become the
largest liner carrier in the world. So there is a
lot of fuel consumed and GHG emitted in
our network. But on a per-unit-basis for carbon
intensity we have consistently make improvements
over time and we continue to
make improvements. The real breakthrough
for us is going to come through alternative
fuels, which are not yet available.
The other thing is: the data that is relied
upon for some of these comments were made
for Europe, and we have a really big physical
footprint in Europe. And we tend to operate
26 HANSA – International Maritime Journal 11 | 2022