While technological innovations and the use of alternative fuels will be critical in decarbonising the industry, GSBN believes that data monitoring and tracking of emissions across supply chains is vitally important. It also thinks this is crucial if claims of emissions reductions are to be verifiable and comparable between companies.

With regard to these issues, DNV’s recently launched Emissions Connect solution, which is an emissions data verification engine, will help in verifying operational data.

Under the terms of the MoU, DNV, and GSBN will collaborate to conduct pilots with its existing shipping line members to connect verified shipment data from DNV, with a goal of issuing reliable and accountable green claims to end users backed by real granular data.

“As the industry is going through major changes, such as the EU ETS and various book and claim systems, trustworthy data at the shipment level is vital for customers to participate in the decarbonisation journey,” said GSBN.

Bertrand Chen, CEO of GSBN, elaborated. “To achieve shipping decarbonisation at scale, it needs to have a robust data foundation of verified data to enable trusted data sharing across the fragmented and complex supply chain,” he said. “GSBN’s network of Shipping members and its blockchain infrastructure are ideally positioned for this use case.

“And by partnering with DNV, users of the platform can share verified data for vessel operations granularly with end customers to support decision making and prove claims of sustainable shipping.”

Trond Hodne, Business Director Maritime, DNV, sees the MoU with GSBN as having a positive mpact when it comes to decarbonising the industry. “We are excited to partner with GSBN and the users of the network to accelerate decarbonisation across the shipping industry. We empower our customers and their stakeholders with facts and reliable insights so that critical decisions can be made for the good of the environment.”

The executive added: “With GSBN’s data infrastructure and our service, we can help the users of the network enable a higher transparency and accountability in relation to green claims.”