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Container ships for Mediterranean Shipping Co., Maersk and CMA CGM at the Port of Felixstowe in Felixstowe, U.K. (Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg News)

Europe’s biggest container lines want to phase out ships powered only by fossil fuels.

The proposal was announced Dec. 1 in a joint statement from , , and — four of the . It was part of a wider call for action on cutting the industry’s greenhouse gas emissions, made at this week in Dubai.

“We want to see an end to delivery of ships that can only run on fossil fuels,” said , CEO of industry leader MSC, based in Geneva. “Concrete supply of alternative fuels — and globally recognized GHG pricing — are essential.”

Shipping is a major source of carbon emissions and the industry spewed more than 1 billion tons in 2018. While the sector is making some moves toward decarbonizing, progress is relatively limited so far, with the vast majority of the world’s fleet still running on oil. Alternative marine fuels include clean forms of methanol and ammonia, as well as liquefied natural gas.

The companies also called for a “pricing mechanism” to make green fuel competitive during the transition, and for firms to target “one or several” of the highest levels of ambition set earlier this year by the , the industry’s global regulator.

Those nonbinding goals to prevent international shipping from exceeding its share of the world’s 1.5C carbon budget, though would keep it below 2C, the , a nonprofit think tank, said at the time.

The major carriers, having just come through a two-year stretch of record profits during the pandemic, are making more effort to show their environmental stewardship because customers are trying to reduce their carbon footprints.

Copenhagen, Denmark-based Maersk has taken delivery of a and has another 24 arriving through 2027, and has a target of net zero GHG emissions by 2040.

Meanwhile, CMA CGM, which has a fleet of about 600 vessels, has adjusted an order for eight ships that were to be able to run on methanol to be able to use LNG instead, , CEO of the company, confirmed in an interview.

The Marseille, France-based firm said it had spent close to $15 billion decarbonizing its fleet and will have 120 vessels that can run on methanol and LNG by 2028, the latter of which is often criticized for causing methane emissions.

The announcement comes amid a slump in container rates following last year’s exceptional strength. “We know that 2024 will be a difficult year,” Saade said. “Eventually, ’25 could be similar to ’24.”

Maersk, CMA CGM, Mediterranean Shipping Co. and Hapag-Lloyd rank Nos. 5, 7, 11 and 13, respectively, on the Transport Topics Top 50 list of the largest global freight companies.