Northwest Seaport Alliance announces decarbonization partnership with Busan Port Authority

The Northwest Seaport Alliance has announced its partnership with the Republic of Korea, the Busan Port Authority, and the United States government to study the feasibility of creating a green cargo shipping corridor between Seattle-Tacoma in Washington State and Busan, South Korea. The announcement was made in response to the Green Shipping Challenge launched at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP 27) taking place until mid-November in Egypt.

“Ports operate in a global network and partnerships, such as the one between the Northwest Seaport Alliance and the Busan Port Authority, will be critical to driving decarbonization efforts across the globe,” said NWSA Commissioner Sam Cho.

Initiated by the United States and Norway, the Green Shipping Challenge encourages governments, ports and companies to prepare commitments to spur the transition to greener shipping.

A green corridor is defined by the U.S. State Department as “maritime routes that showcase low- and zero-emission lifecycle fuels and technologies with the ambition to achieve zero greenhouse gas emissions across all aspects of the corridor in support of sector-wide decarbonization no later than 2050.” 

The study will involve three U.S. national labs experts, the Maersk McKinney Moller Center for Zero Carbon Shipping, and staff from the two cargo gateways to explore potential sources of alternative ship fuels, as well as existing and potential fueling infrastructure.