Singapore – 7 August 2025 – The Global Centre for Maritime Decarbonisation (GCMD) and the International Association of Dry Cargo Shipowners (INTERCARGO) have joined forces in a two-year Coalition partnership aimed at accelerating decarbonisation efforts within the dry bulk segment.
As the world’s largest shipping segment by tonnage, dry bulk presents unique decarbonisation challenges, particularly for the many small and medium-sized owners operating in unpredictable tramp trades. This new partnership is designed to bridge critical adoption and operational gaps by combining GCMD’s technical insights and experience in executing pilots with INTERCARGO’s extensive member reach and consultative status at the International Maritime Organisation (IMO).
The collaboration will focus on two key areas: promoting the adoption of energy efficiency technologies (EETs) among dry bulk shipowners and facilitating a mutual knowledge exchange on advancements in low- and zero-carbon-fuelled dry bulk vessels.
Addressing the Unique Challenges of Dry Bulk Shipping Operations
Bulk carriers are the backbone of global seaborne trade, accounting for 42.7% of the world’s oceangoing fleet by deadweight tonnage (dwt). INTERCARGO, as the voice of dry bulk shipping, represents over one-third of the global dry bulk tonnage through its membership.
A significant hurdle for dry bulk vessels is their operational model. They often operate on a ‘tramp’ trade basis with irregular and unpredictable routes, making it difficult to plan bunkering at ports that offer zero- or near-zero-emission (ZNZ) fuels. With global bunkering infrastructure for these fuels still under development, near-term solutions are critical to meeting the IMO’s decarbonisation targets. These solutions include drop-in biofuels, onboard carbon capture systems, and EETs.
GCMD is actively conducting pilots and trials to lower the barriers for broad market adoption of these solutions. By leveraging INTERCARGO’s operational expertise and member network, the partnership will help advance the deployment of these technologies across the dry bulk segment.
Supporting Dry Bulk Shipowners in the Energy Transition
A common challenge for shipowners is the uncertainty of fuel savings from EETs and limited access to financing. To address this, GCMD is developing a financing model called Pay-As-You-Save (PAYS), which links repayments to verified fuel savings. GCMD is installing sensors on vessels to validate these savings, and this collaboration aims to accelerate the uptake of EETs in the segment.
Professor Lynn Loo, CEO of GCMD, commented, “This partnership offers a valuable opportunity to deepen our understanding of the dry bulk segment’s operational realities and work collaboratively to address gaps in meeting the industry’s decarbonisation targets. Through INTERCARGO’s consultative status at IMO, we hope to contribute to the development of global regulatory frameworks for maritime decarbonisation.”
Mr. Dimitris Monioudis, Technical Committee Chairman of INTERCARGO, added, “As the voice of the world’s largest shipping segment, INTERCARGO is committed to making decarbonisation work for all our members. This partnership helps ensure practical, scalable technologies reach the companies moving most of the world’s essential cargoes. By combining GCMD’s strength in executing first-of-a-kind pilots with our members’ operational expertise and consultative status at the IMO, we can accelerate progress towards the industry’s decarbonisation targets.“
About INTERCARGO
International shipping is vital for the global economy and prosperity as it transports approximately 90% of world trade. The dry bulk sector is the largest shipping sector in terms of number of ships and deadweight. Dry bulk carriers account for 43% of the world fleet (in tonnage) and carry an estimated 55% of the global transport work.
The International Association of Dry Cargo Shipowners (INTERCARGO) unites and promotes quality dry bulk shipping, bringing together more than 300 forward-thinking companies from over 30 countries. INTERCARGO convened for the first time in 1980 in London and has been participating with consultative status at the International Maritime Organization (IMO) since 1993. INTERCARGO provides the forum where dry bulk shipowners, managers and operators are informed about, discuss, and share concerns on key topics and regulatory challenges, especially in relation to safety, security, the environment, and operational excellence. The Association promotes its members’ positions at the IMO, EU, as well as other shipping and international industry fora, always maintaining free and fair competition as a focal principle.
About the Global Centre for Maritime Decarbonisation
The Global Centre for Maritime Decarbonisation (GCMD) was established as a non-profit organisation on 1 August 2021 with a mission to support the decarbonisation of the maritime industry by shaping standards, deploying solutions, financing projects, and fostering collaboration across sectors.
Founded by six industry partners namely BHP, BW Group, Eastern Pacific Shipping, Foundation Det Norske Veritas, Ocean Network Express and Seatrium, GCMD also receives funding from the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) for qualifying research and development programmes and projects. Since its founding, bp, Hanwha Ocean, Hapag-Lloyd, NYK Line and PSA International have joined as Strategic partners. To-date, over 130 centre- and project-level partners have joined GCMD, contributing funds, expertise and in-kind support to accelerate the deployment of scalable low-carbon technologies and lowering adoption barriers.
Since its establishment, GCMD has launched four key initiatives to close technical and operational gaps in: deploying ammonia as a marine fuel, developing an assurance framework for drop-in green fuels, unlocking the carbon value chain through onboard carbon capture and articulating the value chain of captured carbon dioxide as well as closing the data-financing gap to widen the adoption of energy efficiency technologies.
GCMD is strategically located in Singapore, the world’s largest bunkering hub and busiest transhipment port.
Source Global Centre for Maritime Decarbonisation (GCMD)