The Daily View: Watch China for green shipping in 2026

WHAT does 2026 have in store for green shipping? Here’s a quick preview.

The International Maritime Organization will resume fractious negotiations on emissions pricing. But few expect a breakthrough in October, given the US’ ruthlessness against UN climate efforts.

The biggest emissions benefit would probably come from a reopening of the Red Sea to containerships, but don’t hold your breath for that.

Biofuels and LNG will tick upwards for compliance reasons in Europe, where the FuelEU Maritime standard is now the most pressing regulation on the horizon. If you have any bio-LNG lying around, someone in Europe may well want to buy it this year.

Green hydrogen and ammonia will go nowhere (too expensive) but blue hydrogen projects (made from natural gas and carbon capture) are perhaps worth watching.

Carbon capture onboard is still a dream, and not a comforting dream for those looking into the detail. Ditto nuclear, but you’ll hear more about the latter as the MAGA-backed hype around small modular reactors builds.

But the most interesting developments will be in China, where most ships are built and where battery technology is soaring ahead for smaller vessels.

Fully electric ferries and even containerships are already plying the Yangtze, and their builders will aim to make longer voyages happen. Even London’s Thames river has an electric ferry now.

China is experimenting with everything, and it only has to wait for the IMO to decide a definition of green methanol before it can set about dominating the new market, as is its custom.

Noise and politics predominated last year, and will continue. Yet perhaps once the din has cleared, we’ll have something to get excited about.

Declan Bush
Senior reporter, Lloyd’s List

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