Conflict in the Red Sea has brought massive carbon emissions increases in ocean freight container shipping, according to data released by Xeneta on Tuesday.
The Xeneta and Marine Benchmark Carbon Emissions Index (CEI), which measures carbon emissions per ton of cargo transported across the world’s top 13 trades, hit 107.4 points in Q1 2024 - the highest it has been since the index began in Q1 2018.
For containers being shipped via ocean from the Far East to Mediterranean, the CEI reveals carbon emissions increased by 63% in Q1 2024 compared to Q4 2023. From the Far East into North Europe, carbon emissions increased by 23%.
This is a direct result of conflict in the Red Sea region, which escalated in December and has seen most ocean freight container services avoid the Suez Canal due to the threat of attack by Houthi militia.
Data released by Xeneta – the leading ocean and air freight rate benchmarking and intelligence platform – also reveals disruption in the Red Sea has pushed some shippers into using air freight to protect supply chains.
With the largest ocean freight carriers still choosing to avoid the Red Sea, cargo from the Far East is now arriving via ocean at ports such as Jebel Ali in the Arabian Gulf before being flown out of Dubai Airport for onward transportation to Europe and North America.
As a result, air cargo demand from Dubai Airport to European destinations increased by 190% in March compared to the same month in 2023.
Xeneta is an ocean and air freight rate benchmarking and market analytics platform transforming the shipping and logistics industry. Xeneta’s data is comprised of over 450+ million contracted container and air freight rates and covers over 160,000 global ocean trade routes and over 58,000 airport-airport connections. Xeneta is a privately held company with headquarters in Oslo, Norway and regional offices in New Jersey, US and Hamburg.
