Poseidon Principles

Background and history

Pre-2019 ship finance climate context

Ship finance is a specialised banking sector serving the global merchant fleet, with ship loans typically structured as 5 to 12 year mortgages secured by the vessel hull. The total global ship finance market is approximately USD 290 billion as of 2024 (down from ~USD 450 billion at the 2008 peak), concentrated among approximately 50 major banks worldwide. The principal lenders historically were European banks (Nordea, DNB, Crédit Agricole CIB, BNP Paribas, ABN AMRO), with Asian banks (Bank of China, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, China Development Bank, Mitsubishi UFJ, SMBC) growing significantly through the 2010s.

Through the 2000s and 2010s, ship finance was treated as a sector-specific lending discipline with limited integration of climate considerations. Lending decisions were typically based on vessel value, charter contract revenue, operator credit and historical default rates. Climate risk was implicitly priced through the cost of bunker fuel and through residual value risk if the vessel became commercially or regulatorily obsolete (e.g. due to tightening MARPOL standards), but these factors were not formally analysed.

2018 to 2019: the climate-finance gap

Two parallel developments in 2018 highlighted the need for a formal climate-alignment framework in ship finance:

• The 2018 Initial IMO Strategy on Reduction of GHG Emissions from Ships (IMO GHG Strategy) committed the maritime sector to a 50% absolute emissions reduction by 2050. This implied that ships financed in 2019 (with 5 to 12 year loan tenors) would still be operational well into the 2030s, when the trajectory tightening would create stranded-asset risk for vessels that could not meet the trajectory.
• The Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) recommendations of June 2017 had set the global standard for corporate climate-risk disclosure, with banks under increasing pressure to disclose their financed emissions across all sectors. Shipping was the only major transport sector (alongside aviation) without a sector-specific disclosure framework.

The idea took shape in a 2017 conversation and was first presented as a concept under development on 2 to 4 October 2018 at the first Global Maritime Forum Annual Summit, held in Hong Kong. Citi, Société Générale, and DNB led the drafting, working with maritime companies (A.P. Moller-Maersk, Cargill, Euronav, Gram Car Carriers), the law firm Watson Farley & Williams, and the class society Lloyd’s Register. The Global Maritime Forum, a Copenhagen-based industry nonprofit, took on the secretariat role, with technical support from Rocky Mountain Institute and UMAS. The framework drew on the Equator Principles, the bank standard for assessing social and environmental risk, and responded to the TCFD’s push for financial institutions to measure their climate exposure.

19 June 2019: launch with eleven banks

The Poseidon Principles were launched on 19 June 2019 in New York, the first sector-specific climate-alignment framework for financial institutions that measured and reported real emissions data. It began with eleven founding signatory banks from five countries, together about 20% of global ship finance:

The five founding countries were the United States, the Netherlands, France, Denmark, and Norway. The launch group represented roughly 20% of global ship finance. Bank lending is the single largest source of capital for shipowners, about 62% of all financing for the industry, so a disclosure standard covering the major lenders reaches a large share of the fleet through the loan book rather than through the ships directly.

2020 to 2024: expansion

The signatory base widened year by year, and the disclosure reports record the count and coverage at each step:

• 2020: 20 signatories from 8 countries (Sweden, Switzerland, Japan added), about 33% of global ship finance. Second Annual Disclosure Report, 20 December 2020.
• 2021: 29 signatories from 12 countries (Finland, Italy, Singapore, the United Kingdom added), about 60%. Third report, 15 December 2021.
• 2022: 30 signatories from 14 countries (Germany, Spain added), about 70%. Fourth report timing shifted.
• 2023: 34 signatories from 14 countries, about 80%. Fourth Annual Disclosure Report, 14 December 2023, the first aligned with both the 2023 and the 2018 IMO ambition.
• 2024: 35 signatories from 14 countries, about 80% of global ship finance, around USD 240 billion. Fifth Annual Disclosure Report, 12 December 2024.

By the 2024 report, roughly 70% of signatories were from Europe and North America and 30% from Asia-Pacific. The 2024 signatory list spans ABN AMRO, BNP Paribas, Bpifrance Assurance Export, CaixaBank, CDP (Italy), Citi, Crédit Agricole CIB, CIC, Danish Ship Finance, Danske Bank, Deka, Development Bank of Japan, DNB, Eksfin (Export Finance Norway), Finnvera, ING, KfW IPEX-Bank, MUFG Bank, Nordea, OCBC, SACE, SBI Shinsei Bank, SEB, SMBC, Société Générale, SpareBank 1 Sør-Norge, Sparebanken Vest, Standard Chartered, Sumitomo Mitsui Finance and Leasing, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank, Swedbank, The Chugoku Bank, Hiroshima Bank, Iyo Bank, and UBS. Several are export credit agencies (Bpifrance, CDP, Eksfin, Finnvera, SACE), reflecting the framework’s scope: lenders, lessors, and financial guarantors, including export credit agencies.

Methodology updates 2023 and 2024

The 2018 Initial IMO Strategy set the original trajectory. After the revised 2023 IMO Strategy adopted net-zero by or around 2050 at MEPC 80, the Steering Committee revised the trajectories on a tight schedule so the December 2023 disclosure could already reference the new ambition. That report was the first to score portfolios against both the 2023 and the 2018 ambition, giving signatories a view of the gap each target implied. The 2023 methodology change:

• Adopted the net-zero-by-or-around-2050 ambition alongside the original at least 50%-by-2050 path.
• Reflected the IMO 2030 indicative checkpoint (at least 20%, striving for 30%, against 2008) and the 2040 checkpoint (at least 70%, striving for 80%) in the trajectory shape.
• Moved emissions accounting toward well-to-wake (full life-cycle, CO2-equivalent), matching the IMO’s revised perspective.

The framework distinguishes a “minimum” trajectory (the at-least targets) from a “striving” trajectory (the more demanding figures), and the disclosures report alignment against both. The Technical Guidance was reissued as version 5.1 in June 2024 and was the version used for the 2024 disclosures. While preparing the 2024 report, an internal review found an error in the trajectories generated for the passenger segments (cruise, ferry-RoPax, vehicle, and ferry-pax), which had made those trajectories too stringent and overstated the vessels’ misalignment; the segment trajectories were corrected for the 2024 report, and signatories were allowed to choose whether to restate their 2023 figures. The 2024 report also announced a Future Principles Committee to study broader environmental and social objectives beyond climate.

Governance

Poseidon Principles Association and Steering Committee

All signatories are members of the Poseidon Principles Association, the governing body. The Association coordinates day-to-day work through a Steering Committee that, in the 2024 report, was made up of 16 signatories with two representatives each, each serving a defined term. The Chair, Vice Chair, and Treasurer are nominated by the committee. In the 2024 disclosure the Chair was Michael Parker (Citi, Chairman of Global Shipping and Logistics), the Vice Chair was Paul Taylor (Société Générale, Global Head of Maritime Industries), and the Treasurer was Rajesh Subramanian (ING). The 16 committee banks named in the 2024 report were ABN AMRO, BNP Paribas, Citi, Crédit Agricole CIB, Danish Ship Finance, Development Bank of Japan, DNB, ING, KfW IPEX-Bank, Nordea, SEB, SMBC, Société Générale, Standard Chartered, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank, and UBS.

The Steering Committee:

• Reviews and approves methodology updates and trajectory revisions.
• Oversees the annual disclosure process and the Technical Guidance.
• Manages the admission of new signatories.
• Engages with the IMO and other bodies on methodology compatibility.

Global Maritime Forum (secretariat)

The Global Maritime Forum (GMF), based in Copenhagen, serves as the secretariat for the Poseidon Principles, providing:

• Methodology development and maintenance.
• Annual disclosure aggregation and publication.
• Communication with signatory banks.
• Engagement with the broader shipping industry through the GMF’s annual Global Maritime Forum Summit and the parallel Sea Cargo Charter initiative (the cargo-buyer-side equivalent of the Poseidon Principles, also administered by the GMF).

The four Principles

The framework sets four commitments, stated in the Technical Guidance and on the official site. Each is short and binding on every signatory:

• Principle 1, Assessment: signatories assess the climate alignment of their shipping portfolios each year using the methodology in the Technical Guidance, first measuring the emissions intensity of the portfolio, then comparing it to a defined decarbonization trajectory. A new signatory’s first assessment is due the calendar year after it joins; a bank that signs in January 2025 first assesses alignment in 2026.
• Principle 2, Accountability: signatories rely on IMO standards and Recognized Organizations for identical, unbiased data, including the mandatory IMO Data Collection System (DCS) fuel-consumption reporting.
• Principle 3, Enforcement: signatories include a standard covenant clause, or binding agreement, in all new business that secures access to high-quality data and compliance with the Principles, and commit to working with clients to gather the information needed.
• Principle 4, Transparency: signatories publicly acknowledge their participation and publish their climate alignment score in the Annual Disclosure Report and their own corporate reports each year.

Methodology

Annual Efficiency Ratio (AER) as the core metric

The Poseidon Principles methodology uses the Annual Efficiency Ratio (AER) as the operational climate metric per vessel, calculated as:

AER = total annual CO₂ emissions / (deadweight tonnes × distance travelled)

The AER is the same metric used by the IMO CII regime under MARPOL Annex VI Regulation 28 (with a ship-type-specific a coefficient and c exponent reference line per MEPC.337(76)). For most cargo ship categories (bulk carriers, tankers, gas carriers, container ships, general cargo ships, refrigerated cargo carriers), AER is the operative metric. For ro-pax, ro-ro vehicle carriers and cruise passenger ships, the cgDIST variant (g CO₂ per gross-tonne-nautical-mile) is used.

Climate Alignment Score (CAS)

The Climate Alignment Score (CAS) for an individual vessel is calculated as the percentage difference between the vessel’s actual AER (from IMO DCS data) and the trajectory AER for the vessel’s type and year:

CAS = (AER_actual − AER_trajectory ) / AER_trajectory × 100

A positive CAS indicates the vessel is above the trajectory (worse than aligned); a negative CAS indicates the vessel is below the trajectory (better than aligned). A CAS of 0 indicates exact alignment.

The trajectory AER for each year is derived from the IMO GHG Strategy decarbonisation pathway, with the 2023 methodology update reflecting the net-zero-by-2050 ambition.

Portfolio-weighted alignment

The portfolio-level CAS is the exposure-weighted average of the per-vessel CAS values:

Portfolio CAS = Σ (CAS_vessel × Exposure_vessel ) / Σ Exposure_vessel

where Exposure is the loan amount outstanding for each vessel. The portfolio CAS is the headline disclosure number reported annually by each signatory bank.

The Poseidon Principles alignment calculator implements both the per-vessel and the portfolio-level calculations.

Trajectory definition

The 2018 Poseidon Principles trajectory was a linear interpolation between:

• 2018 baseline: average AER of the 2018 fleet by ship type.
• 2050 target: 50% reduction in absolute CO₂ emissions, translated to an AER reduction trajectory.

The 2023 update revised the trajectory to:

• 2018 baseline: unchanged.
• 2030 milestone: 20% reduction (striving for 30%) per the IMO 2023 Strategy.
• 2040 milestone: 70% reduction (striving for 80%) per the IMO 2023 Strategy.
• 2050 target: net-zero-by-or-around-2050 per the IMO 2023 Strategy.

The trajectory is calibrated separately for each ship-type-and-size category, with the steepest reductions in the 2030 to 2040 period to align with the IMO’s progressive tightening.

Annual disclosure

Reporting cycle

Each signatory bank publishes its annual disclosure report in December of each calendar year, covering the previous calendar year’s portfolio data. The reporting cycle:

• January to June year+1: data collection (using IMO DCS data submitted by 31 March).
• July to October year+1: third-party verification by an accredited verifier (typically ABS, DNV, Lloyd’s Register or Bureau Veritas).
• November year+1: bank-level disclosure preparation.
• December year+1: simultaneous publication of all signatory disclosures on the Poseidon Principles website.

Disclosure content

The annual disclosure includes:

• Portfolio-level CAS (the headline number).
• CAS by ship type (bulk carriers, tankers, container ships, gas carriers, etc.).
• Number of vessels in portfolio.
• Total exposure (USD).
• Year-on-year CAS trajectory (showing improvement or deterioration).
• Methodology notes (any specific deviations from the standard methodology).

Reporting percentage

Since the 2022 (third) report, signatories also disclose the share of their portfolio actually included in the alignment calculation, the reporting percentage. It shows how much of a bank’s debt is backed by real emissions data rather than estimates, so a high reporting percentage makes the headline score more credible. In the first exercise the average was 91%, with every signatory above 50%. By the 2024 report the average reached 93.3%, every signatory reported emissions data for at least 70% of its portfolio, 28 signatories reported 90% or more, and 8 reported 100%. The Association attributes the rise to clients increasingly sharing their data once the covenant clauses required by Principle 3 are in place.

2024 disclosure (fifth edition)

The December 2024 disclosure was the fifth edition and the second to score portfolios against the 2023 IMO ambition. The Global Maritime Forum summarized the result as a move closer to alignment: across the signatory base, alignment with the IMO’s minimum net-zero goals improved by nearly 8 percentage points year on year, despite the more demanding annual emissions-reduction targets the steeper trajectory imposes. Most individual scores still sat above the trajectory (behind the goal), but the majority improved on the prior year. The Association named operational efficiency, retrofits, and emerging fuel pathways as the drivers, and noted that signatories were using their scores to shape financing decisions, including sustainability-linked loans for vessels fitted with energy-saving devices, wind propulsion, or air lubrication, and financing for biofuels and alternative propulsion. Because the passenger-segment trajectory error was corrected for this edition, year-on-year comparisons for cruise, RoPax, vehicle, and ferry-pax ships carry a methodology caveat.

Signatories and global coverage

Coverage and composition (2024)

The 2024 signatory list runs to 35 financial institutions from 14 countries, together nearly 80% of global ship finance. By type it spans commercial banks (Citi, BNP Paribas, Standard Chartered, UBS), specialist ship-finance lenders (Danish Ship Finance), Japanese banks and leasing arms (MUFG Bank, SMBC, Sumitomo Mitsui Finance and Leasing, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank, Development Bank of Japan, SBI Shinsei Bank), regional Japanese banks (The Chugoku Bank, Hiroshima Bank, Iyo Bank), a Singapore bank (OCBC), Nordic lenders (DNB, Nordea, SEB, Swedbank, SpareBank 1 Sør-Norge, Sparebanken Vest), German institutions (KfW IPEX-Bank, Deka), Spanish (CaixaBank), and export credit agencies (Bpifrance Assurance Export, CDP, Eksfin, Finnvera, SACE).

The geographic split in 2024 was roughly 70% Europe and North America, 30% Asia-Pacific. The scope covers credit products secured by vessel mortgages (bilateral loans, syndicated loans, club deals, guarantees), finance leases secured by title over a vessel, and unmortgaged export credit agency loans tied to a vessel, where the vessel is 5,000 GT or above, trades internationally, and has an established trajectory so its emissions intensity can be measured from IMO DCS data.

Limits of voluntary coverage

The framework reaches lenders that choose to sign. Around 20% of global ship finance, the share outside the signatory base, faces no equivalent disclosure obligation. Large state-owned Chinese banks, which hold sizable ship-finance and leasing books, are not signatories, and Russian state banks fall outside the Western financial system. The 2024 report’s own framing is that bank lending is about 62% of all shipping finance, so even full bank coverage would leave equity, bond, and alternative finance outside the standard. The Association’s stated direction is to keep widening membership and, through the Future Principles Committee, to study broader environmental and social objectives beyond carbon intensity.

Comparison with related initiatives

Sea Cargo Charter

The Sea Cargo Charter is the cargo-side companion to the Poseidon Principles, also hosted by the Global Maritime Forum and built on the same four Principles. Launched in 2020, it gives charterers, and after a 2024 scope expansion also shipowners, a common baseline to assess and disclose the climate alignment of their chartering activities against IMO goals. It uses carbon-intensity metrics including the AER and the Energy Efficiency Operational Indicator (EEOI). The framework reached 37 signatories, and the 2024 report covered 34 charterers and shipowners representing about 18% of global wet and dry bulk cargo carried by sea in 2024. That report put signatories on average 12% behind the IMO minimum goals and 18% behind the striving targets, with 19 of 34 reducing emissions intensity over the year and 8 improving their alignment scores. The companion Sea Cargo Charter calculator computes chartering-portfolio alignment on the same AER basis.

Poseidon Principles for Marine Insurance

The Poseidon Principles for Marine Insurance apply the same four-Principle structure to hull and machinery (H&M) underwriting. They were launched in December 2021 with six founding signatories: Swiss Re Corporate Solutions, Gard, Hellenic Hull Management, SCOR, Victor International, and Norwegian Hull Club. The framework is also hosted by the Global Maritime Forum and shares the Copenhagen secretariat. It applies to insurers and underwriters that provide H&M cover, the second-largest line of marine insurance after cargo. Like the finance framework, it measures the carbon intensity of insured vessels with the AER, in grams of CO2-equivalent per deadweight-tonne-nautical-mile, drawn from IMO DCS data, and benchmarks each portfolio against two trajectories aligned with the IMO ambition. Each signatory publishes its portfolio climate alignment in an annual disclosure, giving the insurance side of shipping a standard that mirrors the lending side. The set of signatories has grown since launch, and the initiative advanced its agenda at its 2024 Annual Meeting. The shared design across finance, chartering, and insurance means a single owner of an older, less efficient vessel can face the same carbon-intensity signal from its bank, its charterer, and its hull insurer.

RightShip GHG Rating

The RightShip GHG Rating is a commercial vessel-screening service operated by RightShip Pty Ltd (an Australian-Greek joint venture), which publishes per-vessel GHG ratings (A to G scale) used by cargo owners and charterers in vessel-selection decisions. The RightShip rating is methodologically similar to the Poseidon Principles alignment score but is per-vessel rather than per-portfolio and is commercial rather than voluntary-disclosure. The two frameworks are often used together: signatory banks use the Poseidon Principles for portfolio disclosure, while the RightShip rating supports vessel-level screening. The RightShip GHG calculator implements the RightShip methodology.

Net-Zero Banking Alliance (NZBA)

The Net-Zero Banking Alliance, convened by the UN Environment Programme Finance Initiative, is the broader cross-sector banking climate-alignment initiative, and most large Poseidon Principles signatories are also members. NZBA members set net-zero targets across their lending and investment, sector by sector. For those banks the Poseidon Principles act as the shipping-sector method that produces the figure an NZBA shipping target is measured against, which is why the two are often reported side by side.

Partnership for Carbon Accounting Financials (PCAF)

The Partnership for Carbon Accounting Financials, launched in 2015, sets the global standard for financed emissions accounting (the calculation of GHG emissions attributable to bank loans and investments). PCAF Standard Part A covers six asset classes including business loans (which encompasses ship loans). Most Poseidon Principles signatories also report under PCAF; the Poseidon Principles methodology is aligned with PCAF for the shipping-specific calculation.

Comparison summary

What the framework changes in practice

The clearest documented effect is on data flow. Principle 3 puts a covenant clause into new loan, lease, and guarantee agreements that obliges the borrower to share fuel-consumption data, and the rising reporting percentage (from a 91% average in the first exercise to 93.3% in 2024) shows that clause working: signatory banks now receive emissions data for nearly all of the debt in their portfolios. The 2024 report frames this as a shift in normal practice across the sector since 2019.

The second effect is on dialogue and product design. The Association reports that signatories use their alignment scores to shape financing decisions, including sustainability-linked loans for vessels fitted with energy-saving devices, wind propulsion, or air lubrication, and financing for biofuels and alternative propulsion. The framework gives a bank and its client a shared, IMO-anchored number to negotiate against rather than a generic environmental, social, and governance label. The framework also seeded parallel standards: the Sea Cargo Charter for charterers and shipowners, the Poseidon Principles for Marine Insurance for H&M underwriters, and similar disclosure frameworks for steel, aluminium, and aviation finance.

The harder question is whether disclosure has moved real emissions. The 2024 report shows alignment improving by nearly 8 percentage points year on year, with operational efficiency, retrofits, and emerging fuels named as drivers. Most portfolios still sit behind the IMO trajectory, so the framework documents a gap that is closing rather than closed.

Limitations

The framework is voluntary, so it reaches only lenders that sign. Around 20% of global ship finance falls outside the signatory base, and bank lending itself is about 62% of all shipping finance, so equity, bond, and alternative finance are untouched even when bank coverage is complete. Large state-owned Chinese banks with sizable ship-finance and leasing books are not signatories.

The measure is carbon intensity against a trajectory, not absolute emissions. The AER divides annual CO2 by deadweight times distance, so a vessel can improve its score by sailing more laden miles even as its total emissions rise, and a portfolio can align on intensity while financing fleet growth. The same dynamic appears in the CII regime, which uses the same metric and the same trajectory logic.

Methodology lag is real. The revised IMO ambition was adopted in July 2023, and the trajectories were revised quickly, but the alignment data each report carries is a full calendar year old, drawn from IMO DCS submissions due by 31 March of the following year. The passenger-segment trajectory error found during the 2024 cycle, which had overstated misalignment for cruise, RoPax, vehicle, and ferry-pax ships until it was corrected, shows that the trajectory math itself carries model risk that signatories cannot independently audit.

Scope is narrow by design. The 2024 report states that climate alignment is currently the only environmental factor the Principles consider, with any broadening left to signatory discretion and to the new Future Principles Committee. Air pollutants, ship recycling, and biodiversity sit outside the standard, and only vessels at or above 5,000 GT trading internationally with an established trajectory are covered, leaving smaller and domestic tonnage out of the calculation.

Future direction

The 2024 report points to continued fine-tuning of the alignment methodology as the IMO reviews CII regulation and develops measures under the revised strategy, including the work that became the IMO Net-Zero Framework. The Future Principles Committee is to study broader environmental and social objectives alongside climate. Open questions include how the framework will reflect the IMO’s emerging global fuel standard and pricing measure, how it will sit alongside regional regimes such as EU ETS for shipping and FuelEU Maritime, and whether voluntary disclosure will be drawn into mandatory bank reporting under regimes like the EU’s sustainable-finance rules and the UK’s sustainability disclosure requirements.

Related Calculators

• Poseidon Principles Alignment Calculator
• CII Attained Calculator
• CII, SFOC & Fuel Mix Quick Check Calculator
• RightShip GHG Rating Calculator
• CII Required Calculator
• CII Rating (A–E) Calculator
• CII Corrective Trajectory Calculator
• EEDI Attained Calculator
• EEDI Required Calculator
• EEXI Attained Calculator
• EEXI Required Calculator
• EPL Required MCR Reduction Calculator
• GFI Attained - WtW Intensity from Fuel Mix Calculator
• GFI Compliance - IMO Net-Zero Framework Calculator
• SEEMP Combined Operational Measures Calculator
• MARPOL Annex VI/22, SEEMP Calculator
• MARPOL Annex VI/26, SEEMP revised Calculator
• EU MRV Emissions Report Calculator
• EU MRV to EU ETS Allowance Crosswalk Calculator
• EU ETS, Annual Allowance Cost Calculator
• FuelEU Maritime, GHG Penalty Cost Calculator
• CARB At-Berth Compliance Calculator
• Cold Ironing / OPS Offset Calculator
• CH₄ Methane Slip Calculator
• LNG Methane Slip, GWP20 / GWP100 GHG Calculator
• LNG, Otto MS / Otto SS / Diesel WtW Calculator
• MARPOL Annex VI, NOx Tier II Limit Calculator
• MARPOL Annex VI, NOx Tier III Limit Calculator
• NOx Tier Compliance Check Calculator
• Norway NOx Fund Levy Calculator
• ECA Fuel-Cost Premium Calculator
• ESI, Environmental Ship Index Calculator
• SOₓ from Fuel Sulphur Calculator
• PM10 / PM2.5 Calculator
• Black Carbon Calculator
• MARPOL Annex VI/5, Survey and certification Calculator
• MARPOL Annex VI/6, IAPP certificate Calculator
• IMO DCS, Annual Fuel Report Calculator
• MARPOL Annex VI/22A, Data collection system Calculator
• MARPOL Annex VI/27, Data collection system Calculator
• MARPOL Annex VI/28, CII Calculator
• Cube Law Fuel Ratio Calculator
• Engine, Thermal Efficiency Calculator
• Engine, CO₂ per kWh Calculator
• Ship Recycling GHG Calculator
• Alternative-Fuel TCO Calculator

See also

• IMO GHG Strategy - the policy framework that the Poseidon Principles trajectory aligns with
• IMO Net-Zero Framework - the global GHG pricing mechanism from 2027
• MARPOL Annex VI - the global air-pollution and GHG framework
• What is CII - the operational carbon intensity indicator using the same AER metric
• What is EEDI - the design-phase index
• What is EEXI - the existing-ship index
• SEEMP I, II and III - the energy-efficiency management plan
• EEXI EPL and ShaPoLi - EEXI compliance levers
• CII Corrective Action Plan - corrective measures for D/E-rated ships
• Slow steaming and CII - operational lever
• EU ETS for shipping - the EU cap-and-trade
• FuelEU Maritime explained - the EU intensity regime
• FuelEU penalties, pooling and multipliers - FuelEU mechanics
• UK ETS for shipping - the UK cap-and-trade from 2027
• EU MRV Regulation 2015/757 - the EU MRV data infrastructure
• IMO DCS vs EU MRV - reporting infrastructure comparison
• CARB At-Berth Regulation - the California regional regime
• China DCS - China’s national reporting regime
• Cold ironing and shore power - in-port emission reduction
• Emission Control Areas - regional sulphur and NOx framework
• NOx Tier I, II and III - engine certification regime
• IMO 2020 sulphur cap - global sulphur cap
• Biofuels in shipping - low-carbon fuel pathway
• LNG as marine fuel - dual-fuel pathway
• Methanol as marine fuel - alternative pathway
• Ammonia as marine fuel - zero-carbon pathway
• Heavy fuel oil - residual fuel
• Marine gas oil - distillate fuel
• Specific fuel oil consumption - engine efficiency metric
• Marine diesel engine - engine technology
• LNG fuel system - dual-fuel ship handling
• Exhaust gas cleaning system - scrubber technology
• Selective catalytic reduction - SCR for Tier III NOx
• MARPOL Convention - parent IMO treaty
• SOLAS Convention - principal IMO safety treaty
• STCW Convention - training and watchkeeping standards
• COLREGs Convention - parallel IMO instrument
• Port state control - federal enforcement framework
• Classification society - dual role as Poseidon Principles verifiers
• Flag state and flag of convenience - flag-state interactions with bank lending
• Poseidon Principles alignment calculator - per-vessel CAS and portfolio aggregation
• RightShip GHG calculator - per-vessel GHG rating (parallel commercial framework)
• CII attained calculator - operational AER calculation
• CII required calculator - regulation-driven Required CII
• CII rating calculator - A-to-E rating mapping
• CII corrective trajectory calculator - corrective plan forecast
• SFOC-to-CII converter - engine SFOC to ship CII / AER rating
• EEDI attained calculator - design-phase index
• EEDI required calculator - Required EEDI
• EEXI attained calculator - EEXI as-built calculation
• EEXI required calculator - Required EEXI
• EPL required MCR reduction calculator - EEXI compliance limited MCR
• GFI attained calculator - WtW intensity from fuel mix
• GFI compliance calculator - Net-Zero Framework compliance position
• SEEMP combined operational measures calculator - non-overlapping savings stack
• SEEMP Part I calculator - Part I structure
• SEEMP Part III calculator - Part III CII operational plan
• EU MRV emissions calculator - per-voyage emissions
• EU MRV to EU ETS allowance crosswalk calculator - bridges MRV data to ETS surrender
• MARPOL EU ETS cost calculator - EU ETS surrender cost
• MARPOL FuelEU penalty calculator - FuelEU non-compliance penalty
• CARB at-berth compliance calculator - California compliance check
• Cold ironing OPS offset calculator - per-visit emissions reduction
• Methane slip calculator - LNG dual-fuel methane slip
• Methane slip CO₂-equivalent calculator - GWP100 conversion
• LNG well-to-wake calculator - LNG WtW intensity
• Tier II NOx calculator - rated-speed-dependent Tier II
• Tier III NOx calculator - rated-speed-dependent Tier III
• NOx Tier compliance check calculator - integrated tier compliance check
• Norway NOx Fund calculator - national NOx levy
• ECA fuel-cost premium calculator - trade-route ECA economics
• ESI score calculator - Environmental Ship Index voluntary recognition
• SOx from fuel sulphur calculator - SOx mass-emission rate
• PM10 / PM2.5 calculator - particulate matter emission estimate
• Black carbon calculator - IMO Black Carbon Reference Method
• Survey calculator - Annex VI survey cycle
• IAPP certificate calculator - IAPP issue and endorsement
• IMO DCS report calculator - annual fuel-consumption report
• Reg 22A calculator - IMO DCS data collection plan
• Reg 27 calculator - IMO DCS submission
• Reg 28 CII calculator - CII rating
• Engine cube-law fuel calculator - speed-fuel relationship
• Brake thermal efficiency calculator - engine thermal efficiency
• Engine CO₂ emission per kWh calculator - engine CO₂ rate
• Lifecycle recycling GHG calculator - end-of-life recycling GHG accounting
• Alternative fuel TCO calculator - total cost of ownership for alternative fuels
• ShipCalculators.com calculator catalogue - full listing

Additional calculators:

• Poseidon Principles - Portfolio Climate Alignment
• AER - Annual Efficiency Ratio Calculator
• Sea Cargo Charter Alignment Calculator

Additional formula references:

• Index Sea Cargo Charter

Additional related wiki articles:

• Sea Cargo Charter
• What is AER (Annual Efficiency Ratio)?
• RightShip GHG Rating

References

1. Poseidon Principles. The Poseidon Principles: A Global Framework for Responsible Ship Finance. 18 June 2019; methodology updated 2020, 2021, 2023, 2024.
2. Poseidon Principles. 2024 Annual Disclosure Report (covering 2023 data). December 2024.
3. Poseidon Principles. Methodology Update: Net-Zero by or around 2050 Trajectory. October 2023.
4. Global Maritime Forum. Sea Cargo Charter: Methodology Document. October 2020.
5. IMO MEPC. Resolution MEPC.304(72) - Initial IMO Strategy on Reduction of GHG Emissions from Ships. IMO, 13 April 2018.
6. IMO MEPC. Resolution MEPC.377(80) - 2023 IMO Strategy on Reduction of GHG Emissions from Ships. IMO, 7 July 2023.
7. IMO MEPC. Resolution MEPC.337(76) - 2021 Guidelines on the Reference Lines for CII. IMO, 17 June 2021.
8. RightShip Pty Ltd. RightShip GHG Rating Methodology v.4. Melbourne / Athens, 2023.
9. Net-Zero Banking Alliance. NZBA Commitment Statement. UN Environment Programme Finance Initiative, 2021.
10. Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero. Annual Report 2024. GFANZ Secretariat, London, 2024.
11. Partnership for Carbon Accounting Financials. PCAF Global GHG Accounting and Reporting Standard, Part A. PCAF, Amsterdam, 2022 edition.
12. UNEP Finance Initiative. Climate Risks for Banks: A Compendium of Approaches. UNEP FI, Geneva, 2023.
13. Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures. 2017 Final Report and 2024 Status Report. TCFD, 2017 and 2024.
14. International Energy Agency. Net Zero Roadmap: A Global Pathway to Keep the 1.5°C Goal in Reach. IEA, Paris, 2023 edition.
15. Marine Money. Annual Ship Finance Survey 2024. Marine Money International, New York, 2024.

Further reading

• Poseidon Principles. Annual Disclosure Reports 2020 to 2024. Available at https://www.poseidonprinciples.org.
• Global Maritime Forum. Annual Summit Reports 2019 to 2024. Available at https://www.globalmaritimeforum.org.
• DNV. Maritime Forecast to 2050. DNV, Oslo, 2025 edition.
• Lloyd’s Register. Climate-Aligned Ship Finance: A Practical Guide. Lloyd’s Register Marine, London, 2024.