The Beneficial Cargo Owners’ Credibility in the Work of Sustainability - A case study within containerized liner shipping

Abstract

Shipping accounts for a large part of international trade, ultimately contributing to increasing emissions. Moreover, regulations have been created such as MARPOL and other legal instruments to regulate the emissions from the shipping industry. This has affected the shipping companies’ attitude regarding environmental strategies, of which the choice of bunkers plays a major role. Liner shipping companies invest in alternative fuels, as BCOs become more interested in reducing the environmental impact of the transport mode of their choice. Indeed, they have realized the business benefits of emphasizing sustainability toward their customers. As such, BCOs play a major role in the development moving forward, depending on whether they chose an environmentally friendly mode of transport or not. The aim of the study is to analyze how important sustainability is for the BCOs when choosing mode of transport, as well as investigate the credibility in their work of sustainability. The report is based on qualitative methods, mainly through literature books and theses as well as relevant scientific literature. Semi-structured interviews have been conducted with beneficial cargo owners. The study has been delimited to global liner shipping transports and beneficial cargo owners situated in Sweden. The result indicates that sustainability is an important factor for the beneficial cargo owners, yet cost is the ruling factor for the transportation. It is concluded that the companies’ credibility is damaged, due to their general lack of knowledge and interest, ultimately due to lack of external incentives.