The push for decarbonised maritime logistics is accelerating, with Taiwanese carrier Yang Ming Marine Transport and port operator PSA International signing a Memorandum of Understanding this Monday to develop low-emission solutions. Their partnership combines alternative fuels, electrified terminal operations, and a digital “book-and-claim” system that allows customers to trace sustainable transport chains. Yang Ming has already slashed its CO₂ intensity by 63.32 percent by the end of 2025 compared to 2008 levels, and now plans to use co-branded inset tokens to make decarbonisation measurable.
But while technology races ahead on the water, corporate risk management on land is lagging dangerously. Market analysis shows that 64 percent of companies outsource their third-party risk management to departments outside IT—most often legal, finance, or procurement. Only half of firms use a dedicated Third-Party Risk Management (TPRM) system. This gap is especially worrying because 96 percent of companies intend to expand their supplier ecosystems in the near future. A supply chain is only as strong as its weakest link, and many organisations have lost sight of who their weakest links really are.
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The urgency of that oversight was underlined just days ago. On July 15, Repsol bunkered roughly 2,800 tonnes of bioethanol onto Maersk’s container vessel Antonia Maersk in the port of Barcelona—the first such refuelling operation in the Mediterranean. Maersk now operates 23 methanol-capable ships and is testing ethanol as a transition fuel. Simultaneously, the Danish shipping giant launched a specialised transport service for lithium-ion batteries across North America, with safety and compliance as the top priorities.
Yet sustainability cannot be reduced to fuel choices alone. In South Africa, governance tensions have escalated. The Public Servants Association is demanding answers from the finance ministry over stalled reforms at the Public Investment Corporation. The CEO was suspended after controversial payments, and several board members resigned. The union insists on full accountability, arguing that clean structures in the boardroom are as essential as low emissions in the supply chain.
A separate but related sign of shifting priorities: more shipping lines are returning to the German flag. Around a dozen companies are in talks with the Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency about reflagging. At the end of June, 395 ships were registered under German flag. Tailwind Shipping Lines, for example, plans to reflag one vessel from Portuguese to German registry by mid-2028—a clear vote of confidence in the country’s maritime regulatory environment.
Even small-company governance is under the spotlight. B-A-L Germany AG has called an ordinary general meeting for August 28 in Döbeln. Shareholders will vote on discharging the management and supervisory boards and electing a new auditor. The registration deadline is August 25.
Behind these individual developments lies a broader debate about corporate accountability. The German Bundesrat already passed a legislative initiative on mandatory women’s quotas for supervisory boards in 2012. Today, civil-society organisations such as the Forum Fairer Handel are demanding stronger human rights due diligence obligations—a push that gained new urgency after the Rana Plaza disaster. The lesson is clear: green fuel and clean supply chains must go hand in hand with transparent governance. One without the other is a recipe for risk.
