Sailing Towards Net Zero

The Maritime industry transports around 90 percent of international trade volumes, contributing nearly 3 percent of global CO₂ emissions that could rise to 10 percent by 2050 if left unchecked. The International Maritime Organization (IMO) has set ambitious climate goals for the sector, proposing a Net-Zero Framework (yet to be adopted) that includes both incentives and punitive measures designed to drive decarbonization in global shipping.

Green shipping corridors are a promising tool for accelerating maritime decarbonization by concentrating infrastructure development, vessel deployment, policy support, and other stakeholder initiatives and investments along specific routes. Such ecosystem coordination is critical in overcoming the cost and scale barriers that currently limit the competitiveness of green hydrogen-based fuels (e-fuels).

Within this context, India has emerged as a prime location with low cost of production for green hydrogen driven by several factors, including low-cost renewables and supportive national and state-level policies. This report developed by RMI, with the support of India’s Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways (MoPSW), outlines India’s first-mover corridor opportunities arising from the combination of the IMO’s ambitious climate goals, India’s hydrogen strategy, and the EU and Singapore’s hydrogen demand driven by their respective maritime and industrial decarbonization mandates. The report highlights:

• The drivers and scale of green hydrogen demand at the potential destination ports in Rotterdam and Singapore
• India’s production costs for green hydrogen-derivatives (ammonia and methanol) and pass through impact on vessel operating costs
• Availability of the required enabling ecosystems to effectively implement green shipping corridors and recommended next steps to move the corridor from theory to practice.

The findings indicate that with ports advancing ammonia/methanol readiness and international partners such as Singapore and Rotterdam prepared to import at scale, India has a unique opportunity to lead in green shipping corridors by leveraging cost competitiveness, strong policy momentum, and coordinated ecosystem investments. India’s ports such as VOC are well placed to emerge as e-fuel trade hubs as production costs decline, subsidies expand, and international frameworks like Fuel EU and potentially the IMO’s Net Zero Framework help narrow cost gaps with conventional fuels. Realizing this potential will require early alignment around a high-impact first-mover corridor, structured stakeholder collaboration, and formal consortium agreements that build trust and coordinate investments.

Acknowledgements 

The team expresses our heartfelt appreciation to ClimateWorks Foundation for its support.