One stop-shop for screening the market and chartering vessels with the lowest CO2 emissions

The ocean data collaboration hub C4IR Ocean and the digital chartering platform Vanora are joining forces to give charterers, cargo owners and brokers a one-stop-shop for chartering bulk tonnage with the lowest CO2 footprint.

The decarbonization of the global shipping industry is one of several concrete actions the world needs to take to limit the increase of global average temperature to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.

Independent estimates of CO2 emissions


C4IR Ocean will provide Vanora with independent estimates of CO2 emissions through its prototype emissions estimator, the Ship Emissions Tracker. These estimates will then become part of Vanora's evaluation tool to find the most suitable vessel for the transportation.

The Ship Emissions tracker has been developed by C4IR Ocean and NoA Ignite, with the support of Microsoft's AI for Earth initiative and leveraging specially curated data from the Global Fishing Watch. Vanora’s technology empowers the ecosystem of charterers, vessel owners and brokers to keep pace with the volatile market, while doing more to evaluate the vessels offered in a bidding process.

The only platform to offer this combination world wide?


“Through our collaboration with C4IR Ocean, I believe we are the world’s first fully Source-to-pay chartering platform embedding comprehensive and data driven emissions calculations to the core of the vessel selection process. We are confident that most charterers are looking for this possibility, enabling them to make transparent decisions in line with their ESG policies and to document that they are compliant on sustainability according to the applicable reporting framework,” said Geir Gotteberg, CEO in Vanora.

Vanora has, from its beginning, included sustainability assessment of vessels as a natural and integrated part of the chartering process.

Can estimate CO2 emissions from ships above 5000 DWT


Today, the global merchant fleet contributes 3 % of the greenhouse-gas emissions. Emissions are projected to increase from about 90% of 2008 emissions in 2018 to 90-130% of 2008 emissions by 2050 for a range of plausible long-term economic and energy scenarios. (Source: Fourth IMO Greenhouse-Gas study 2020.)

“The Ship Emissions Tracker combines AIS (Automated Identification System) and vessel data with calculations from the acknowledged ICCT method. We can estimate CO2 emissions from nearly every ship above 5000 DWT in the global merchant fleet. We also compare vessels to give an efficiency index within their vessel class, meaning how efficient the vessel is versus its peers in terms of cargo capacity versus emissions,” said Mogens L. Mathiesen, Chief Industry Officer at C4IR Ocean.

The vessel efficiency index is a tool that provides direct insight into the emissions from a user-defined set of vessels. It is calculated by dividing the historically estimated emissions by the deadweight tonnage (i.e. cargo capacity) and the vessels' sailed distance. The resulting number is normalized and plotted to visualize its efficiency versus its peers.

Emission estimates and the efficiency index will be added to Vanora's trading platform and piloted early next year. The new partners aim to add estimates from other emissions in due course. Giving charterers and cargo owners the option to find and hire the vessels with the lowest CO2 emissions.

About Vanora


Vanora (previously known as VesselAdmin) is a Norwegian technology company that provides the ocean industry with procurement services that set the standards for convenient, transparent and responsible practice. Vanora is a first of its kind to combine eProcurement and financial services in a shipping exchange. It has a payment license from the Norwegian government.

Through a transparent, compliant and fair chartering process, we ensure that customers get the right vessel, at the right place, at the right time. Its solution is the first of its kind, and the majority of players in the Norwegian market are already active on our platform. Today, you can charter PSVs, AHTSs, subsea vessels, tugs, rigs through their portal. Early 2021 Vanora are adding bulk carriers and tankers to its platform.

Since founded in 2017, Vanora’s digital procurement platform has acquired a strong foothold in the Norwegian Offshore market; deals worth more than 200m USD has been completed on the platform, and the market share is steadily increasing.

About C4IR Ocean


The foundation is an affiliate of the World Economic Forum's Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution (C4IR) network, with a global mandate to use fourth industrial revolution technologies and multi-stakeholder cooperation to create ocean impact.

The World Economic Forum has set up 15 centres for the Fourth Industrial Revolution across the globe. The centres work with governments, leading companies, civil society, innovators, and science experts from different sectors to explore how to maximise modern technology's benefits to solve critical societal tasks.

Located in Oslo, Norway, the Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution Ocean is the only Centre solely focusing on oceanic challenges. C4IR Ocean was initially founded by the Aker Group and the World Economic Forum in 2019 and now has a growing network of 17 partners.