The Singapore-based Global Centre for Maritime Decarbonisation (GCMD) has entered into a partnership with German-headquartered container shipping line Hapag-Lloyd to further advance maritime decarbonisation efforts.

The agreement will focus on "collaboration to amplify the impact of the solutions and accelerate the time to deployment and adoption".

Hapag-Lloyd has plans to reduce emissions from its fleet by 30pc by 2030 compared with 2019 levels and is aiming to be carbon neutral by 2045, which is five years ahead of the 2050 target set out by the International Maritime Organisation. It operates a fleet of 253 container ships and has a total transport capacity of 1.8mn TEU.

The partnership brings geographical diversity and a further $10mn in funding, GCMD said, which will help it carry out trials.

The GCMD was formed on 1 August 2021 with funding from the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore and six founding partners — BHP, BW, DNV Foundation, Eastern Pacific Shipping, Ocean Network Express and Sembcorp Marine.