Singapore & Tokyo | October 8, 2025 – The Global Centre for Maritime Decarbonisation (GCMD) and the International Association of Ports and Harbours (IAPH) have officially announced a two-year Coalition partnership agreement aimed at accelerating the decarbonisation of the global maritime sector. The collaboration was unveiled today at the IAPH 2025 World Ports Conference in Kobe, Japan.
This strategic alliance combines GCMD’s expertise in closing operational, safety, and technical gaps across the shipping value chain with IAPH’s extensive global port network, which includes more than 200 port authorities and operators in over 85 countries. IAPH will leverage the insights from its clean marine fuels and port readiness level expert working groups.
Together, GCMD and IAPH will focus on strengthening the industry’s readiness for shipping’s fuel transition. Their joint efforts will tackle challenges and seize opportunities in advancing alternative fuels bunkering, developing essential port infrastructure, and shaping evolving regulatory frameworks.
Advancing the Role of Ports in Shipping’s Fuel Transition
Ports are identified as being uniquely positioned to accelerate maritime decarbonisation, providing essential local expertise. Their role includes assessing navigational risks, engaging with local regulators and communities, and ensuring safe pilots and trials to enable the eventual safe and large-scale adoption of low-carbon fuels.
GCMD will complement this by executing its pilots across the value chain, co-developing risk-mitigation strategies for new fuel deployment, and establishing crucial operating procedures for activities like safe ammonia bunkering and liquid CO₂ offloading. By tailoring findings to port-specific conditions and sharing results across its network, GCMD seeks to close knowledge gaps and build globally applicable best practices.
IAPH will collaborate with GCMD to refine its existing tools and co-develop new ones through its Clean Marine Fuels Working Group. These resources will assist ports, shipowners, and operators in adopting new bunkering fuels safely and efficiently, as well as in the transportation of low- and zero-carbon fuels as cargo.
Building on Existing Collaboration
This partnership builds upon an already strong foundation, as GCMD is a supporting partner in the Clean Energy Marine Hubs (CEM-HUBS) initiative, of which IAPH is a founding member. CEM-HUBS is a cross-sectoral public-private platform jointly led by an industry task force of CEOs and energy ministers under the banner of the Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM).
Through the Coalition partnership, both organisations will further advance their shared goal of positioning shipping as a key enabler in the production, transport, and adoption of low-carbon fuels.
GCMD Highlights Pilot Learnings at the IAPH 2025 World Ports Conference
At the IAPH 70th Anniversary 2025 World Ports Conference, Professor Lynn Loo, CEO of GCMD, highlighted the centre’s real-world pilot experience. She cited Project CAPTURED, which involved working with multiple ports in China to enable the safe offloading of captured and liquefied CO2 for delivery to an inland off-taker.
“In nearly all of GCMD’s pilots, ports have been pivotal to success—whether in enabling the world’s first ship-to-ship ammonia transfer at the Pilbara, bunkering across six biofuel supply chains in Singapore or the Port of Rotterdam, or demonstrating the full value chain for onboard captured CO2 in China,” said Professor Loo. “Our collaboration with IAPH brings global reach and influence that will help us deepen our work with ports, turning pilot learnings into scalable operations essential for the energy transition.”
Patrick Verhoeven, Managing Director, IAPH, commented on the synergy: ”We look forward to teaming up with GCMD’s experts, who will work with our port members to co-develop tools to help further accelerate the decarbonisation of the maritime sector and to derisk long-term investments in port infrastructure, which will be essential for the industry’s energy transition.”
About International Association of Ports and Harbors (IAPH)
Founded in 1955, the International Association of Ports and Harbors (IAPH) is a global alliance of 200 port authorities and 173 port-related businesses across 94 nationalities. Its member ports handle over one third of the world’s sea-borne trade and well over 60% of global container traffic. IAPH leads global industry initiatives on decarbonisation and energy transition, risk and resilience management, and accelerating digitalisation in the maritime transport chain. Its World Ports Sustainability Program is a reference database of port best practices for applying the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Visit iaphworldports.org.
About the Global Centre for Maritime Decarbonisation (GCMD)
Established on 1 August 2021, the Global Centre for Maritime Decarbonisation is a non-profit organisation dedicated to accelerating the shipping industry’s transition to a low-carbon future. Headquartered in Singapore, the world’s largest bunkering hub and busiest transshipment port, GCMD serves as a key enabler for the development and deployment of scalable decarbonisation solutions.
GCMD was founded by six industry leaders — BHP, BW Group, Eastern Pacific Shipping, Foundation Det Norske Veritas, Ocean Network Express, and Seatrium — and is supported by the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA). Strategic partners include bp, Hanwha Ocean, Hapag-Lloyd, NYK Line, and PSA International, with over 130 partners contributing funding, expertise, and in-kind support.
To date, GCMD has launched initiatives addressing:
- Ammonia fuel deployment
- Drop-in green fuel assurance
- Onboard carbon capture and value chain articulation
- Closing the data-financing gap for energy efficiency technologies
By shaping standards, de-risking innovation, and fostering collaboration, GCMD is paving the way for a commercially viable and environmentally sustainable maritime industry.
Source: Global Centre for Maritime Decarbonisation (GCMD)