Bureau Veritas Marine & Offshore (BV) on Tuesday (30 June) said it signed a strategic cooperation agreement with Shenzhen Port Group on 29 June in Shenzhen, China.

The two parties engaged in in-depth discussions on strengthening collaboration across key sectors and jointly advancing the development of green shipping corridors.

Under the agreement, both parties will leverage their respective strengths and resources to deepen collaboration focused on the development of green shipping corridors and related businesses. Through resource sharing and complementary capabilities, they will jointly develop green shipping projects to deliver replicable and scalable outcomes.

Bureau Veritas will provide professional technical support to Shenzhen Port Group and industry players at large, helping them navigate evolving maritime regulatory policies and translate emerging international rules into practical, implementable measures to align domestic and global industry standards.

Backed by its comprehensive global business footprint, BV offers end-to-end testing, inspection and certification services covering the entire green fuel industrial chain, spanning renewable energy production to bunkering infrastructure for marine fuels. It has also built extensive hands-on experience in numerous domestic green fuel projects.

Alex Gregg-Smith, President of Bureau Veritas Marine & Offshore, said: Global decarbonization of the shipping industry requires concerted efforts and in-depth collaboration across the entire industrial value chain. 

“As a world-class port conglomerate, Shenzhen Port Group boasts strengths that are highly complementary to Bureau Veritas’s expertise in technical services and standard-setting. Deepening our partnership is of great significance for the green transition of the shipping sector. We hope this collaboration will serve as a catalyst to align domestic and international standards and jointly develop viable pathways for low-carbon maritime trade.”

Hu Zhaoyang, Secretary of the Party Committee and Chairman of the Board at Shenzhen Port Group, stated: “Bureau Veritas Marine & Offshore is a globally recognized authoritative body in the maritime sector, with a wealth of decarbonization solutions and practical experience for the global shipping industry. Its vision aligns perfectly with Shenzhen Port Group’s green development strategy. 

“Building on this agreement, we will further expand all-round cooperation across relevant fields, and maximize the combined value of Shenzhen Port Group’s diverse industrial application scenarios and BV’s authoritative technical certification capabilities to achieve mutual benefit through complementary strengths.”

Photo credit: Bureau Veritas Marine & Offshore
Published: 2 July, 2026

The Port of Barcelona on Thursday (11 June) said it signed a new strategic cooperation agreement with the Shanghai Municipal Transportation Commission (SMTC) and Shanghai International Port Group (SIPG).

The agreement officially establishes the “sister ports” relationship between Shanghai and Barcelona and aims to boost cooperation in areas such as the digitalisation and security of port operations; developing green ports and alternative fuels; intermodality and fostering sustainable maritime corridors between the Far East and the Mediterranean. 

The agreement was signed by José Alberto Carbonell, president of the Port of Barcelona; Xiao Hui, general director of the SMTC, and Yang ZhiYong, vice president of SIPG, in the presence of Jaume Duch, Regional Minister for European Union and Foreign Action. 

The relationship between the Port of Barcelona and the Port of Shanghai has intensified in recent years. In late July 2025, a preliminary agreement was signed between both port authorities, which led to a technical visit in September 2025 by a delegation from Shanghai led by Wang Haijian, Vice President and Director of Operations of SIPG, to advance the development of the Green Shipping and Digital Corridor between both ports. 

“This new institutional visit and the signing of the new agreement consolidates the Port of Barcelona’s position as a Euro-Mediterranean logistics hub and strengthens its links with one of the main ports and economic centres in the world,” the port said. 

Photo credit: Port of Barcelona
Published: 12 June, 2026

A new consortium facilitated by the Global Maritime Forum and RMI will work to establish a green shipping corridor between the Port of Açu in Brazil and the Port of Antwerp-Bruges in Belgium, according to Global Maritime Forum on Thursday (4 June). 

In addition to the port teams on both ends of the corridor, the consortium includes HIF Global, Fuella, NYK Line, Höegh Autoliners, and Wallenius Wilhelmsen. 

The consortium will assess infrastructure, vessels, and business models to create a roadmap for transporting zero-carbon fuels produced in Açu, such as e-ammonia or e-methanol. The transport itself would also be powered by the same zero- or near-zero-emission fuels.

“We’re thrilled to be working with these partners to take these important steps towards Brazil’s e-fuel production and bunkering opportunity, whilst supporting the growing demand for e-fuels in Europe,” said Eleanor Wells, a senior project manager at the Global Maritime Forum.

The new consortium builds on a pre-feasibility study developed by RMI and the Global Maritime Forum in November 2025. 

The study highlighted the competitive projected costs of e-fuel produced in Açu, due to Brazilian policies supportive of green hydrogen production, the country’s largely renewable electricity grid, its abundance of renewable energy sources, and a relatively low cost of capital. A 2024 report from the same two organisations, Oceans of Opportunity, identified the Port of Açu as a high-potential e-fuel export hub.

Green shipping corridors are dedicated trade routes where the feasibility of zero-emission shipping is catalysed by public and private action. These routes are seen as central to delivering on the shipping industry’s goal of having zero-emission fuels account for 5% of all fuels by 2030. 

While green corridors have rapidly expanded in popularity worldwide, and a handful of initiatives have now reached the realisation stage, the most recent edition of the Annual Progress Report on Green Shipping Corridors warned that progress is being stalled by a ‘feasibility wall’ created by the cost gap between conventional and zero-emission fuels.

The Global Maritime Forum and RMI will continue to facilitate the realisation of the Açu-Antwerp green corridor, with work already moving at pace to progress beyond pre-feasibility and develop a feasibility analysis for the corridor. The feasibility analysis is expected to be published by the end of the year, with the consortium meeting regularly in the meantime.

Photo credit: william william on Unsplash
Published: 5 June, 2026