Analyzing green services in the business network of the shipping industry

Abstract

Due to globalization of society, the shipping industry has become an essential mode of transport. The shipping industry relies on fossil fuels and accounts for approximately 3% of the worlds GHG and CO2 emissions. Environmental issues have received global attention, and the shipping industry is being pushed to introduce more sustainable practices into their business because of new regulations as well as pressures from customers and other stakeholders. This master's thesis is conducted on behalf of RISE Maritime Department, to find environmentally friendly and long-term economic solutions that can be applied in maritime logistics. The purpose of this master thesis is to investigate what green services in the shipping industry are offered and how they could be developed in collaboration with their stakeholders. To fulfil this purpose three research questions will be investigated: 1. What green services are offered today in Ro-Ro/Container shipping segments and how are these services structured? 2. What stakeholders in the shipping industry’s business network are important to involve in developing green services? 3. How could green services in the shipping sector be developed in the future and what are their enablers and barriers? Several methods were used to answer the research questions. Systematic combining was used to facilitate the process, this method entails collaborating between data and theory, the process is not linear. Initially a homepage scanning was made on various container and Ro-Ro shipping companies and after that interviews were conducted with the same companies that were included in the homepage scanning, and also one freight forwarder, this was done in combination with the theoretical framework. After the data collection, analysis was made that green services in the shipping segment were mainly offering customers to purchase alternative fuels on their shipments in forms of carbon reductions, carbon compensations, carbon calculations and offsetting projects. The shipping industry’s business network consists of various actors such as customers, freight forwarders, fuel suppliers among others, which are all important actors when collaborating in developing green services. Suggestions for how green services could look like in the future as well as further research has been made.