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MAGPIE Green Shipping Corridors non-tech solution

Research on Green Shipping Corridors identifies factors driving progress in adopting low-emission fuels, infrastructure, and collaboration. This is non-tech solution 2 within the MAGPIE project.

Alternative fuels

Introduction

Green Shipping Corridors (GSCs) are shipping routes that are looking to reduce emissions in their activities by integrating low or zero-emission fuels, their supporting infrastructure, and collaborative efforts (Global Maritime Forum, 2023; Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller Center for Zero Carbon Shipping, December 2023). Each corridor has its own specific goals and activities, defined by its leaders and partners. Most aim to implement alternative fuels and supporting infrastructure along their shipping routes through knowledge building, vessel planning, economic development, and the use of digital tools. By the end of 2025, there were 84 green corridors announced globally, 16 of them were assessed as mature, including four of them that have progressed to the realisation stage. Different shipping segments are well represented in the GSCs, with the most active being the roll-on/roll-off (RoRo) and ferry segments. For fuel pathway selection, methanol and ammonia are the most popular options (Global Maritime Forum, 2025). Despite the increasing numbers, the overall progress of these initiatives appears slow, with a big announcement in the media followed by a long silence on progress. This research aims to understand how differences in GSCs lead to different levels of progress.

Value proposition

  • Problem

    Although a growing number of Green Shipping Corridors (GSCs) are established each year, many corridors are not reporting significant progress in their development. The exact definition of the GSCs is missing, and no straightforward approach or support mechanism is proposed. Some GSCs are currently on hold or have been discontinued, especially when they were just announced. It can be concluded that the overall GSC development remains unclear, inconsistent, and generally disorganised. Many of them lack transparency in concrete goals, governance processes, and outcomes, making it difficult to assess how GSC leads to successful emissions reductions.

  • Opportunity

    Green Shipping Corridors (GSCs) present a collaboration opportunity for stakeholders across the value chain. The key characteristics of GSCs that shape their performance and progress were translated into a diagnostic and decision-support tool. This tool enables stakeholders to assess their current GSC situation, identify critical gaps, and receive inputs on recommended actions to prioritise at their current state. The opportunity aims to support the GSCs to move from the fragmented initiatives towards a more coordinated, transparent, and goal-oriented development by providing guidance on which aspects of their GSC need more attention for improvement and what actions need to be prioritised for their state.

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Port applicability

• Large Container Ports/Hub Ports: Highly applicable since these ports are typically served as the central global trade, with a complex, multi-stakeholder environment. The tool supports managing complex GSC systems and aligning stakeholders' engagement toward a shared decarbonisation goal. • Ferry Terminals: Highly applicable. Although ferry corridors often operate on shorter routes with a more predictable situation, it is typically easier to make the transition into alternative fuels for a specific passenger vessel. The tool supports identifying missing aspects that are critical to be implemented to make progress in GSC, especially related to the fuel pathway and technical readiness. • Industrial Ports: Highly applicable, since this type of port is often involved in bulk cargo and fuel infrastructure, making it closely linked to energy supply chain traceability. The tool supports aligning stakeholders and developing the fuel supply chain. • Smaller/Regional Ports: Applicable if the ports have the necessary capacity required to develop a GSC. The smaller ports typically involve a shorter route with smaller stakeholders, making GSC development possible if the ports are ready and committed. • Other: Applicable to the innovative ports that are looking to identify efforts to reduce emissions, or to the ports that are participating in pilot projects. The tool provides guidance on the critical aspects of GSC development to be focused on.

Detailed description of the solution

The proposed solution is a Green Shipping Corridor (GSC) Diagnostic and Decision Support Tool that serves as a reflection tool for the GSC stakeholders in ensuring development in their GSCs. The tool enables stakeholders to self-diagnose their GSC state based on the current situation, identify which factors need further attention, and take recommended stage-based actions. To identify how differences in GSCs are associated with progress levels, several factors were identified as the key characteristics of GSCs that shape their performance and progress. The factors consist of financial capacity, technical readiness, organisational setup, consortium size, fuel pathway, and timeline presence. These factors serve as a basis to identify different configurations of conditions that are associated with different GSC outcomes. Several recommendations were then formulated in sequence using the configurations of factors identified. Early-stage GSCs should prioritise defining a clear fuel pathway and governance structure before focusing on infrastructure investment. Developing GSCs should focus on ensuring continuous financial stability and engaging customers in the alternative-fuels market. Advanced GSCs should shift towards market integration and regulatory alignment, and reduce dependence on subsidies. To sustain progress, strong stakeholder coordination and the balance between supply and demand are critical. These sequential recommendations were then translated into an interactive tool, which shows the relevant recommendations based on the situations described by the stakeholders. The software tool is an interactive digital application, using a web-based (HTML) interface. The system consists of three different components: (1) the diagnosis part that enables stakeholders to identify the GSC’s current state by selecting all evidence statements that apply or best describe the situation, (2) the reflection part that reviews the matching pattern based on the selected statements and enables stakeholders to identify which factors in their GSC require further attention for development, and (3) the action part that shows the recommended actions based on their evidence-based situations that fit their current GSC stage. This interactive tool provides actionable insights for maritime stakeholders and policymakers on the direction of GSC aspects to focus on in advancing their development. The system operates by processing stakeholders' responses using a rule-based logic that maps combinations of factors to diagnose an outcome of a GSC state. The outcome is linked to some recommendations of actions that need to be prioritised to ensure development in their GSC process, built upon aspects that are strong and are missing based on the selected conditions. The flexibility in the design across different configurations of selected statements allows the tool to be easily adapted to the conditions in future GSC developments.

Impact

Impact level per aspect
ImpactLevelRemark
Energy EfficiencyMedium impact
Provides guidance on GSC development planning by recommending prioritisation of the right actions at the right situations that will lead to more efficient energy use through better resource utilisation.
GHG emissionsMedium impact
Accelerates the implementation of GSC that adopts low- or zero-emission fuels. The successful adoption of lower-emission fuels in a shipping route will significantly reduce GHG emissions in that specific route.
SafetyMedium impact
Alternative fuels require new safety standards and regulations in handling, storage, transporting, and bunkering. The solution helps stakeholders to early identify whether they already have sufficient technical capability in place.
CircularityMedium impact
The solution supports decision-making in a more strategic resource allocation, including investments, in alignment with long-term GSC development. This allocation contributes to the more efficient use of materials and resources.
Port CityMedium impact
The solution helps identify operational inefficiencies and challenges in port activities, thereby suggesting recommendations based on the situations and contributing to a more stable port development.
Nature and Community ImpactMedium impact
The transition to lower-emissions fuels and the reduction of emissions contribute to improved environmental conditions in the surrounding areas, thereby also supporting health benefits to the communities.
Other impactMedium impact
The solution encourages stakeholder alignment and guides decision-making within GSC development, therefore contributing to a more transparent and efficient progress of the GSC development.

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Port characteristics

• Need: Ports require data alignment across different aspects and stakeholders within the value chain. Therefore, stakeholder involvement is necessary to ensure aligned multi-stakeholder collaboration management and commitment. Aside from the stakeholder aspect, data required includes technical readiness, fuel pathway, timeline, goal, and financial conditions. The implementation of the GSC Diagnostic and Decision Support Tool requires coordination among the stakeholders involved to facilitate data alignment. To ensure a suitable assessment with the similarities as close as possible to the current GSC situations, it requires transparent data and information sharing among the stakeholders’ management to best understand the current situations. • Affects: The tool facilitates decision-making for the stakeholders to prioritise actions for development based on their GSC situations. The tool improves transparency within the stakeholders’ management and enables early bottleneck identification. This can encourage better stakeholders’ management, GSC direction formulation, technical development, and financial implementation measures. Thus, supporting the role of ports as the central coordinating role.

Barriers and enablers

Enablers

  • Non-technologicalEnabler

    Active coordination and a clear governance structure support the stakeholder engagement. An existing core team that actively acts as a central coordinating role is beneficial to coordinate the stakeholders and conduct regular touchpoints. With continuous engagement, the stakeholders build trust, and therefore, transparency will be created.

  • TechnologyEnabler

    Tool adaptability and accessibility support the challenge of data availability. Since the tool does not require any complex device or system to access, it enables easier access to utilisation for the stakeholders. The tool can also be easily adapted if future changes emerge in accordance with the GSC development, allowing flexibility for future references.

Barriers

  • Non-technologicalBarrier

    A key barrier is related to the stakeholders’ commitment. While coalition building is important to support data and stakeholder alignment, it is challenging to maintain key stakeholders' involvement continuously. Limited transparency, fragmented governance, and low engagement contribute to the lack of stakeholders’ commitment. In this sense, it is important to get the right parties on board and support a positive flow that strengthens trust among them, therefore maintaining momentum and securing long-term alignment.

  • TechnologyBarrier

    Challenges may arise from data integration and availability. Although the data required and the tool assessment mechanism are not complex, data inconsistencies may lead to inaccuracies in GSC situation diagnosis assessment and the recommendations to be prioritised. Integration with the current GSC workflow systems may require some effort as privacy and tool usability concerns may arise.

Step 1]

How to implement?

  1. Step 1

    Preparation (1 week): Identify core stakeholders and assign a central coordinating body; gather initial data on financial capacity, technical readiness, governance, fuel pathway, timeline, and goal of a specific GSC.

  2. Step 2

    Tool assessment (1 week): Introduce the tool to stakeholders through a working session, collect inputs for each factor, generate a diagnosis and recommendations based on the analysed situations.

  3. Step 3

    Validation and alignment (2-3 weeks): Validate assumptions and outcomes with stakeholders and refine inputs if necessary.

  4. Step 4

    Action implementation (3-4 months): Identify recommendations to be prioritised, assign responsibilities to the relevant stakeholders.

  5. Step 5

    Iteration and monitoring (ongoing): Reassess the GSC periodically as it develops, updates inputs if the conditions are changing, and adjusts the strategic actions accordingly.

Implementation interdependencies

The implementation requires collaboration between multi-stakeholders in the value chain to align critical aspects necessary for GSC development, including directionality, coordination, resources, implementation capability, and finance. Stakeholders’ commitment is important to ensure collaboration. Continuous engagement and trust-building are therefore necessary for sustaining stakeholder commitment, maintaining momentum, and securing long-term interest alignment. Port authorities should serve as a central coordinating role, maintaining momentum with stakeholders. Shipping lines should serve as the market-demand direction-setter and maintain their commitment to supporting the transition to alternative fuels. Governments and policymakers should provide suitable regulatory support, such as incentives, to cover the cost gaps between conventional and alternative fuels. Fuel suppliers and producers should assess their capacity to supply alternative fuels.

Required involved stakeholders

  • Port Authority

    Serve as a central coordinating role by facilitating collaboration, maintaining stakeholder engagement, and ensuring operational alignment with the goals.

  • Terminal Operators

    Support operational changes at the port level by adapting required equipment and regulations to be applicable with the relevant alternative fuels.

  • Shipping Lines

    Serve as a market-demand direction-setter and maintains their commitment to supporting the transition to alternative fuels by making efforts to adapt their vessels to be applicable with alternative fuels.

  • Fuel Suppliers/Distributors

    Provide production, sourcing, and distribution of relevant alternative fuels by ensuring the fuel availability and fuel supply chain traceability.

  • Bunkering Service Providers

    Provide safe fuel transfer operations by ensuring the adaptation of bunkering infrastructure complies with the relevant alternative fuels.

  • Technology Providers

    Develop a technological innovation to support efficient operations, emissions tracking, and information transfer.

  • Engineering & Construction Firms

    Design and build the necessary infrastructure to support alternative fuels.

  • Classification Societies

    Ensure compliance with certification standards and requirements for alternative fuel infrastructures.

  • National & International Regulators (incl. Safety & Environment

    Provide a regulatory framework that supports the GSC development.

  • Financial Institutions/Investors

    Support the financial conditions by providing financial advice and/or financial investments.

  • Research & Development Institutions

    Conduct studies to contribute knowledge in supporting technological advancement and stakeholders' decision-making.

  • Local Government & Community Groups

    Provide regulatory support that encourages the uptake of alternative fuels and sustainable energy efforts.

  • Workforce Representatives/Unions

    Ensure workforce readiness by adapting the expertise in handling the fuels safely and in an efficient manner.

Knowledge base and references