Sustainability
Sustainability is central to our strategy and operations
At Stolt Tankers, we recognise that how we conduct business affects our industry, our colleagues, our external stakeholders and the planet.
Sustainability is therefore a key part of our strategy and day-to-day operations and our goals range from reducing emissions and improving safety to supporting employee development and wellbeing.
We encourage all our staff to join us on this journey, to help us become sustainability pioneers in the maritime world and to drive our industry towards a more sustainable operating environment.
UN Sustainable Development Goals
Stolt Tankers is focused on two UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which are particularly important to us and our stakeholders.
When it comes to reducing the impact of our operations on climate change, we are focusing on reducing greenhouse gas (CO2) and other harmful emissions and replacing fossil fuels with sustainable alternatives.
We are involved in several research projects to support the industry on its journey to decarbonisation – particularly in the area of increasing efficiencies and exploring new, alternative fuels for ships – and our ships frequently serve as test beds for new equipment and systems.
We also understand how important it is to protect our marine environment and we are improving the way our business operates to reduce the waste we generate, maintain zero spills overboard and protect the biodiversity of the wider marine ecosystem.
Serious about safety
At Stolt Tankers, our commitment to zero harm for people and the environment is championed at all levels and in all areas of the business. Everyone understands their personal responsibility for ensuring a safe working environment for colleagues and safe operations for customers.
We recognise that our people are our most important asset, and their health, safety and wellbeing are our priorities. Through our Slashed Zero programme for seafarers, we focus on minimising operational risks and reducing personal injuries across our entire fleet, and supporting the mental health and wellbeing of our crews.
A key part of this is our robust training programme, which includes regular in-person training sessions onboard, online training that can be delivered remotely and a self-managed digital training portal.
We also conduct regular risk assessments, make sure we share success stories to encourage positive behaviour, and empower employees to take personal responsibility for their own safety.
More health and safety initiatives
Our annual Team of the Year competition increases awareness of our health and safety procedures and raises standards across our fleet. Each year, ships are assessed on a range of performance criteria – covering safety, port state and customer inspections, audit results, off-hire, claims and cost-efficiency – and the winner and runners-up receive a donation to the ship’s communal onboard welfare fund.
We have developed training modules to support the mental health and resilience of our seafarers. These sessions have been particularly helpful during the Covid-19 pandemic.
We have a 24-hour online channel to improve ship-to-shore communications, which has led to many valuable solutions for keeping ships safe.
We conduct regular audits to spot-check navigation safety, and the learnings are used to develop training, refine procedures and hone our approach to fostering safe and harmonious teams.
A pioneering approach to protecting the environment
From cutting emissions and conserving water to managing energy consumption and reducing waste, at Stolt Tankers, our approach to environmental protection underpins everything we do.
We are proud to hold a gold rating from EcoVadis, which places us in the 95th percentile for sustainability in the shipping industry.
We have committed to achieving three key environmental ambitions:
- reduce Scope 1 carbon intensity by 50% (relative to 2008) by 2030
- reach net zero CO2e emissions by 2050, in line with the International Maritime Organization’s target
We will achieve these aims by improving efficiencies in our existing operations, using advances in technology to develop new fuel-flexible ships leading to decarbonisation of the industry, and investing in new technologies for the design of new systems and to better conserve energy.
For ships already in operation, we focus on running them as efficiently as possible, and our programme of active voyage management helps reduce overall fuel consumption by sailing the optimal route at the optimal speed and trim.
We have an ongoing programme to retrofit devices that improve hydrodynamics and reduce the amount of fuel consumed. We are also exploring several other methods of lowering fuel consumption, including onboard flow meters for more accurate monitoring, devices that harness the power of the wind, optimising hull forms and propulsion plants for newbuildings.
Reducing emissions
Stolt Tankers continuously strives to reduce its carbon emissions.
Forty of our ships that called at US ports during the past three years were eligible for the US Coast Guard’s QUALSHIP 21 certification, with three ships receiving additional E-Zero recognition for meeting specific environmental compliance standards. Additionally, 98 of our ships also received environmental excellence awards from the Chamber of Shipping of America. We also retained our B- Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) rating.
In 2024, through our joint venture with NYK Line, we ordered six stainless steel parcel tankers, which are designed to maximise fuel efficiency and they can also be converted for future methanol propulsion.
In 2023, Stolt Tankers became the first chemical tanker operator to apply a graphene-based marine coating to the propellers and hulls of our ships to reduce marine growth, improve propulsion and fuel efficiency and reduce ship-related noise disturbance for marine wildlife. In 2024 we coated 26 propellers, bringing the total across our fleet to 55.
Committed to going further
At Stolt Tankers, we constantly review our systems to ensure we are 100% compliant with applicable regulations and certifications. We also actively follow new sustainable developments in the industry, and we are working on several pioneering projects to cut emissions and promote decarbonisation, including:
- pioneering the use of graphene coatings on propellers to enhance their performance and reduce fouling buildup
- successfully launching the Stolt Ludwigshafen in May 2023, together with our customer BASF, setting a new standard for low-water capable barges on the River Rhine
- joining the Maritime Anti-Corruption Network (MACN), which is working to create a maritime industry free of corruption and to foster a culture of integrity
- becoming a strategic partner to the Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller Center for Zero Carbon Shipping, and seconding one of our sustainability experts to the Center, committing to long-term collaboration around the development of zero-carbon solutions for the maritime industry
- being a founding member of the Ship Recycling Transparency Initiative, an online platform reporting ship recycling practices against a set of predefined criteria
- becoming a partner in the HySHIP project, which is designing a RORO vessel powered by liquid hydrogen
- being among the 5% of worldwide shipowners committed to working towards a sustainable blue economy, with a focus on reducing single-use plastics. For us, the main sources are bottled drinking water and packaging from food and supplies on board our ships, so we gave all seafarers refillable flasks and upgraded our sanitary piping systems to give crews easy access to clean, potable water onboard
Stolt Tankers sustainability news
