Supply chain technology company VesselBot is redefining how the shipping industry approaches emissions transparency with its latest quarterly analysis covering 82,212 containership voyages across 6,187 vessels. The comprehensive Q1 2026 report reveals that while total maritime emissions increased by 10.2% year-over-year to 54.5 million tonnes of CO₂e, the average emissions intensity deteriorated by 4% to 208.2 g CO₂e per TEU km, exposing the critical gap between fleet-wide averages and actual shipment-level performance. The data demonstrates that carrier efficiency varies dramatically even within identical trade lanes, with port pair selection creating material differences in both costs and emissions that aggregated benchmarks fail to capture.
Geopolitical Disruption Reshapes Maritime Traffic
The first quarter of 2026 was marked by significant disruption to global shipping routes, particularly through the Strait of Hormuz. According to United Nations analysis cited in the report, maritime crossings through the strait dropped by 97% in March compared to February averages, falling from 129 to just 4 crossings. This disruption affected containership traffic at Jebel Ali, one of the region’s most important ports, where voyages dropped from 297 in March 2025 to just 38 in March 2026.
The geopolitical tensions coincided with significant volatility in oil prices, which rose 40.2% between February and March 2026, reaching $99 per barrel. By May, Brent crude peaked at $114.4 per barrel, the highest levels since April 2022. These price increases have had cascading effects across all transportation modes, as energy supply constraints push costs upward throughout the supply chain.
Vessel Utilisation Emerges As Critical Performance Factor
VesselBot’s analysis reveals that vessel utilisation serves as the primary operational lever determining emissions intensity. The most efficient voyages in Q1 2026 recorded 77% average utilisation while carrying 9,163 TEU per voyage, compared to the least efficient voyages which achieved only 51% utilisation and carried 589 TEU. This dramatic difference translates directly into cost per container and emissions per shipment.
During Q1 2026, average utilisation across the fleet reached 69%, representing a modest 0.6% increase year-over-year. However, the average TEU carried per voyage decreased by 5.4% to 2,597 TEU, indicating that efficiency improvements in utilisation rates were offset by smaller cargo loads. The data shows that 61.6% of all voyages achieved emissions intensities below the quarterly average of 208.2 g CO₂e per TEU km.
Major Trade Routes Show Divergent Performance
The report’s analysis of four major fronthaul routes demonstrates significant variation in carrier performance, even when controlling for trade lane selection. On the China/East Asia to Mediterranean route, Evergreen achieved an average intensity of 65.6 g CO₂e per TEU km, substantially outperforming MSC at 79.7 and HMM at 80.9. The primary differentiator was port selection rather than operational efficiency alone, with Evergreen’s voyages departing primarily from Singapore while competitors used more distant Chinese ports.
Transit times varied significantly across these major routes, with China/East Asia to Northern Europe voyages averaging 31.5 days compared to 11.3 days for Northern Europe to North America East Coast routes. The longest routes demonstrated superior efficiency through economies of scale, with larger vessels carrying more cargo over greater distances, thereby reducing per-TEU emissions intensity.
Despite representing only 1.1% of total quarterly voyages, these four major fronthaul routes accounted for 11% of quarterly emissions and 16.7% of transport work, highlighting their disproportionate importance to global trade flows.
Fleet Composition Drives Industry Averages
VesselBot’s expanded tracking capabilities now cover nearly 6,200 vessels, with feeder containerships (under 3,000 TEU capacity) representing 57.5% of the tracked fleet. These smaller vessels carried out 64.5% of all quarterly voyages but generated the highest average emissions intensity at 266 g CO₂e per TEU km. In contrast, Very Large Container Ships (VLCS) with capacities exceeding 17,000 TEU achieved intensities of just 55.2 g CO₂e per TEU km.
The fleet age analysis reveals an average age of 15.5 years across all vessel categories, with larger vessel classes maintaining younger average ages due to higher renewal rates and competitive pressures. NeoPanamax vessels and VLCS, despite comprising only 6.6% of total voyages, generated 41.2% of all quarterly TEU km, demonstrating the transport efficiency achieved by larger vessels.
Execution Level Data Transforms Decision Making
The report demonstrates that industry-wide averages mask critical variations that determine actual emissions, costs, and regulatory compliance. VesselBot’s findings show that ONE Line was the most efficient carrier on the China/East Asia to West Coast North America route in Q1 2025 but ranked third in Q1 2026, a shift invisible in historical benchmarks but crucial for current procurement decisions.
Constantine Komodromos, Founder and CEO at VesselBot, said:
“Without execution-level data, shippers cannot accurately assess regulatory exposure, validate carrier surcharges, or make informed decisions on route optimisation, shipment consolidation, and carrier selection. This report illustrates that gap directly: fleet-wide estimates cannot replace shipment-level intelligence grounded in actual logistics execution.”
The analysis underscores how the same trade lane can produce materially different costs and emissions depending on specific port pairs, vessel deployment, and operational execution. As regulatory frameworks like the EU’s Emissions Trading System extend to maritime transport, this granular visibility becomes essential for supply chain leaders managing both financial and environmental compliance requirements.
