Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI) will participate as a partner in the establishment of The Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller Center for Zero Carbon Shipping, a research and development institute to promote decarbonization in the shipping industry being created at the suggestion of integrated transport and logistics company A.P. Møller – Mærsk A/S. The Center will be headquartered in Copenhagen, Denmark with MHI and six other business corporations and institutions participating in its founding. The Center will mainly target the development of new fuels and technologies for achieving zero carbon in the shipping industry, which currently accounts for roughly 3% of the world’s carbon emissions. MHI Group will cooperate primarily through provision of human resources.
Besides A.P. Møller – Mærsk and MHI, participants in the Center’s establishment include: the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS); Cargill, Incorporated, a major American producer of grain and other foodstuffs; MAN Energy Solutions, a longstanding manufacturer of large-bore diesel engines; NYK Line; and Siemens Energy. The Center will be operated as a nonprofit organization (NPO) funded by the A.P. Møller Foundation, a charitable foundation commemorating A.P. Møller – Mærsk’s founder, Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller. Bo Cerup-Simonsen, former Vice President and Head of Mærsk Maritime Technology at A.P. Møller – Mærsk, will serve as the Center’s CEO. The Center will undertake development of carbon-neutral fuels and new propulsion technologies in collaboration with global partners gleaned from the industrial and academic sectors and related authorities.
Initially the Center will operate with a staff numbering approximately 100, including employees assigned from the founding partners as well as the Center’s own hires. In addition to experts in energy, fuels and shipping technologies, staff will also include personnel in charge of regulatory issues, marketing, etc. The Center’s activities will focus on achieving the target announced by the shipping industry to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions substantially by 2050.
