Drawing on more than 45,000 voyages across the Intra Mediterranean and Black Sea corridor, OceanScore found that emissions intensity on the same trade lane can vary by up to ten times, exposing how carrier behavior will directly shape shippers’ financial risk under upcoming EU ETS and FuelEU Maritime rules.
"The same corridor, the same vessel class, yet emissions can range from 9 to over 80 gCO2 per ton-kilometre," says Thomas Smith, head of cargo solutions at OceanScore. "That's not a distance problem; that's a consistency problem. Voyage-level visibility is what turns those hidden differences into actionable insight for shippers and forwarders."
"Short-sea operations are far less predictable than long-haul," says Eduardo Ramos, senior data analyst at OceanScore. "On these routes, every delay or underutilized sailing compound emissions. Without voyage-level data, companies can't see where their Scope 3 risk - or cost - really comes from."
Key takeaways:
· High-intensity operators display greater volatility, inflating Scope 3 exposure when used at scale.
· Choosing high-volume, lower-intensity operators can materially reduce Scope 3 exposure, while reliance on higher-intensity feeders risks inflating totals despite their smaller share.
· Carriers with narrower, stable distributions offer predictable Scope 3 outcomes, while more volatile operators expose shippers to reporting risk and inflated cost pass-throughs.
· OceanScore data shows that most voyages operate between 37-67% utilization, with higher load factors corresponding to significantly lower carbon intensity per ton.
· On long-haul routes, a vessel operating at 70% utilization emits roughly 20-30% less CO2 per ton-km than one running at 50%.
