The new report from the Global Maritime Forum records 25 more initiatives and the first corridors already operational in Northern Europe
Brussels – In their annual update, the Getting to Zero Coalition and the Global Maritime Forum have called for maintaining a high level of attention on the development of green shipping corridors, presenting the report At a Crossroads: Annual Progress Report on Green Shipping Corridors 2025. The document reports 25 new projects — in countries including China, India, Brazil, Chile, Ghana and Kenya — bringing the total number of ongoing initiatives worldwide to 84.
The initiatives are divided by progress level: 24 are in the initial phase, 16 in a preliminary exploratory phase, 28 in an advanced exploration phase, 12 in the preparation phase and four have reached the most advanced stage, that of implementation. For the first time, the report distinguishes between projects under construction (new ships or fuel plants) and those already operational. The Oslo–Rotterdam, Stockholm–Turku, Vaasa–Umeå corridors and the Australia–East Asia deep-sea iron ore route are those in the implementation phase, with the last two already active.
The number of projects in the pre-commercial and commercial phases has doubled compared to the previous year, a sign that some barriers to implementation are decreasing. At the same time, the report highlights uncertainty about the prospects for green corridors due to the cost gap between conventional and low-carbon fuels, and policy delays that make the market framework less clear.
Jesse Fahnestock, director of decarbonization at the Global Maritime Forum, noted that the delay in the adoption of the IMO’s Net-Zero Framework can be turned into an opportunity to launch projects capable of generating strategic economic benefits and influencing future incentive mechanisms. The report indeed invites stakeholders to use this period to contribute to the definition of international policies.
Among the recommendations is also the need to more closely link cargo owners’ willingness to pay a premium for e-fuels with the development of corridors, continuing the work started in 2024 with the Zero Emission Maritime Buyers Alliance (Zemba). Furthermore, it is suggested to replicate policy models already active in the EU, Australia and Norway, especially in countries like China, Brazil and India, where favorable strategies exist but effective operational tools still need to be developed.
