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The Royal Institution of Naval Architects (RINA) CII Conference 2025, which opened yesterday (21 January) in London, offered a comprehensive analysis of the International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) Carbon Intensity Indicator (CII) and its impact on the shipping industry.

Setting the scene, Edwin Pang, Chair of the RINA IMO Committee & Founder of Arcsilea Ltd, delivered a presentation exploring the CII’s effectiveness as well as the regulation's ongoing challenges.

The CII quantifies a vessel’s CO₂ emissions per tonne-nautical mile, calculated based on annual fuel consumption, distance travelled, and maximum deadweight tonnage (DWT) or gross tonnage (GT).

While the CII is often seen as a compliance tool, Pang emphasised that it also serves as a monitoring mechanism for the IMO to track carbon intensity across the global fleet.

Following two years of implementation, industry criticism of the CII has lessened, but fundamental concerns remain. According to Pang, a key issue is that the metric provides a simplistic view of efficiency, as it only considers fuel consumption relative to distance travelled without accounting for operational complexities.

‘The CII framework is successful at identifying what’s good, but much less successful at correctly identifying what’s bad,’ Pang noted. While recent data suggests fewer vessels are receiving the lowest rating (E), it remains unclear whether this reflects genuine efficiency improvements or strategic adjustments to meet compliance.

Regarding the impact on emissions, data presented by Pang showed that the distribution of CII ratings indicates an apparent improvement, yet potential factors such as digitalisation, market trends, and the fear of receiving an ‘E’ rating may have influenced these results more than actual efficiency gains.

Also highlighted was the fact that the method of submitting a ‘corrective action plan’ for vessels receiving a low rating also remains largely inactive, raising concerns about its enforcement.

Pang concluded that while the CII has established key performance benchmarks, its long-term effectiveness remains in question. He noted that the industry must address whether the observed improvements reflect real emissions reductions or merely compliance-driven optimisations.

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