Shipping

Locked Out of Green Finance: What’s Holding Truckmakers Back?

European truckmakers pledge a zero-emission future, yet green finance remains marginal in funding the sector’s transition. The European truck industry faces growing competitive pressure. Chinese manufacturers are scaling up electric truck production rapidly and expanding in the global market. European truckmakers commit to battery-electric vehicles, but production expands too slowly to win … [continued]

Chatgpt generated suggestive visualization of carbon pricing impacts on shipping.

The End Game Economics of Maritime Fuels

In my recent article on America’s new maritime plan, I argued that it was competing for the wrong century by anchoring itself to legacy fuels and industrial logic that made sense when gasoline and diesel dominated global energy demand. A reader asked a question regarding the fuel cost variance for … [continued]

Chatgpt generated illustration contrasting fossil-fueled and battery-integrated vessel architectures.

America’s New Maritime Plan Is Competing for the Wrong Century

The new U.S. Maritime Action Plan, available from the White House Maritime Insights page, is serious policy work. It acknowledges that American commercial shipbuilding has withered to less than 1% of global output and that only a handful of domestic yards can build large oceangoing vessels. It recognizes workforce shortages, … [continued]

ChatGPT generated illustration of a ballast-balanced 1,100 TEU feeder vessel at berth, showing containerized battery swap operations, quay-side charging infrastructure, and high-voltage shore connection

Most Maritime Shipping Battery Propulsion Studies Are Already Obsolete

Most maritime battery studies are already obsolete. That is not a criticism of the researchers who wrote them. It is a recognition that their assumptions were grounded in the battery costs and energy densities available at the time. Several of the most detailed recent merchant shipping studies modeled battery system … [continued]

ChatGPT generated this comparison of how fleet payments evolved in the United States, Europe, and China, highlighting fragmentation, integration, and mobile-first leapfrogging.

Why a New US Fleet Payment “First” Is Routine in Europe & China

The announcement that WEX, a major US fleet card provider, can finally combine gasoline and public EV charging into one card, one account, and one invoice lands as a small milestone that only looks novel if the frame of reference is strictly American. For US fleet operators, this closes a … [continued]

Google Gemini generated this infographic illustrating a comparison between China and India's shift towards "electrostates" and the West's reliance on being "petrostates."

The Assumptions That Broke: China, India, and the End of Fossil Growth Models

The idea that heavy freight would be the last redoubt of diesel has been repeated for decades, often with confidence and rarely with evidence. In December 2025, that idea finally collapsed. Battery-electric heavy duty trucks crossed 50% of new sales in China, a segment that had long been treated as … [continued]

Electric Scania truck charging. Photo courtesy of Scania.

EU Cannot Afford to Pause Zero-Emission Heavy-Duty Charging Deployment

IRU, the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA) and T&E urge the European Commission to ensure continuity of EU funding for heavy-duty vehicle charging and hydrogen refuelling infrastructure, warning that a break in support in 2026–2027 would risk slowing the deployment of zero-emission vehicles. In a joint letter addressed to European Commission President … [continued]