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The scale of absurdity: the largest cargo ship in the world can use up to 300 tons of fuel per day, which is equivalent to filling a thousand trucks. Find out why it is considered the most polluting ship in operation.
Maritime transport is responsible for moving more than 80% of the goods traded on the planet. But behind this impressive logistics lies a reality that few know about: cargo ships are among the largest consumers of oil in the world. Some of the giants of the sea burn the equivalent of a thousand diesel tanks of trucks every day — and they do this for weeks, crossing entire oceans.
This scale of consumption and emissions is at the heart of a global debate on sustainability. The most polluting ship today, according to environmental studies, can emit more toxic gases than millions of cars combined. Below, we show how this process works, the global impacts and what is being done to reverse this scenario.
Off-scale consumption: up to 300 tons of fuel per day
Imagine a truck with a 300-liter diesel tank. Now multiply that by a thousand. That's the amount of fuel a mega-truck consumes in just one day of operation.
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The most modern cargo ships, such as the giants of the class Ultra Large Container Vessel (ULCV), transport up to 24 thousand containers per trip. To do this, they use colossal engines, which require between 250 and 350 tons of fuel oil per day.
Most of these ships still use the so-called bunker fuel, a type of highly dense residue from petroleum refining, considered extremely polluting and toxic. This fuel releases sulfur, nitrogen oxides and fine particles — a mixture that is dangerous for the environment and human health.
The world's largest cargo ship is nearly 400 meters long and consumes the fuel of a small city
Currently, the largest cargo ship in the world is the MSC Irina, launched in 2023. At 399,9 meters long, it is larger than four football fields lined up and has the capacity to carry more than 24.000 containers (TEUs) — making it an absolute colossus of the seas.
To power this giant, one of the largest combustion engines ever created is required, consuming around 300 tons of fuel oil per day, depending on the load and conditions of the journey. This represents a carbon footprint equivalent to that of entire small cities in just one week of operation.
Despite advances in hydrodynamic design and energy efficiency, the MSC Irina still operates on bunker fuel, contributing significantly to the statistics that place freighters among the largest emitters in the global transport sector. It represents, at the same time, the grandeur and the environmental challenge of current maritime transport.
MSC Irina is a symbol of competition between maritime powers
MSC Irina is more than a feat of naval engineering: she also represents the geopolitical race for supremacy in global transportation. Swiss-flagged MSC has been forming strategic alliances with Chinese shipyards to take on Asian giants such as COSCO (China Ocean Shipping Company).
Furthermore, the choice of China as a construction and part of logistics center reflects the growth of New Silk Road Maritime, a project with strong support from the Chinese government to dominate international trade routes.
Despite having modern technologies to emission reduction and better energy use, the MSC Irina continues to use fossil fuels as its main source of propulsion. This places it in the statistics of most polluting ships today, worsening the sector’s carbon footprint.
It is estimated that a single ship of this size can emit around 70 thousand tons of CO₂ per year, in addition to thousands of tons of sulfur oxides (SOx) and nitrogen oxides (NOx), harming air quality near port routes.
Most polluting ship: when power becomes an environmental problem
A single bunker fuel-powered cargo ship can emit as much sulfur as 50 million cars over the course of a year, according to a survey by the International Maritime Organization (IMO). As a result, experts believe that some of these cargo ships could be the most polluting ships in the world.
The main engine of these vessels, such as the Wärtsilä RT-flex96C, is a colossus with more than 80 kW of power — the equivalent of more than 100 luxury sports cars operating simultaneously. This explains why the consumption of a cargo ship exceeds any terrestrial standard.
Despite this, this type of transport is, paradoxically, more efficient per ton transported than air or road transport. The issue is volume: since there are thousands of cargo planes in operation, the total environmental impact is gigantic.
Oil in maritime transport: dependence difficult to break
Currently, more than 90% of the global cargo fleet still relies on petroleum derivatives to operate. The energy transition in this sector is progressing slowly and faces several obstacles.
In addition to the high cost of modernization, there is the issue of global infrastructure. Ports, supply routes and maintenance are all still adapted to the use of fossil fuels. Shipping is tied to oil, which makes it difficult to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
And even with pressure for change, maritime sector emissions continue to grow. According to the IMO, it is predicted that if nothing is done, the contribution of shipping to global carbon emissions could rise from 3% to 17% by 2050.
What is being done to reduce the impact?
The International Maritime Organization has already set targets to halve emissions from the sector by 2050. To this end, major shipping companies are testing new fuels, As:
- Green methanol
- Ammonia
- LNG (liquefied natural gas)
- Hydrogen
- Partial electrification with hybrid batteries
However, these are still solutions limited to a few ships or prototypes. Most vessels continue to consume the same fossil fuels which make the cargo ship one of the largest emitters in the world.
Brazil is highly dependent on maritime transport, especially for exports of grains, minerals and crude oil. Ports such as Santos, Paranaguá and Itaqui receive daily ships with consumption similar to that of international giants.
Therefore, the country also needs to advance discussions on energy transition in maritime transport, regulating the use of fuels and encouraging cleaner technologies for national and international vessels.
There is technology to create economic engines. But politics does not allow it to proceed.
Incredible
What a bad article! It starts with the title “a ship consumes a thousand full tanks of trucks”. I had to read the article to know that it was about the fuel used by a thousand trucks. But it failed to say that 24 thousand trucks are needed to transport this cargo, which pollute 24 times more than the ship, and a truck with 300 liters does not travel 100 km. The ship is super economical.
He doesn't know that the world is dependent on maritime transport and only mentions Brazil.
How does he want to transport grain to China, to the world, if not by ship?
He mentions that alternative fuels are in ****, and may be possible to use in 2050. It is worth remembering that there are still 25 years to go before they are approved.
I completely agree with you. This guy must be an anti-maritime ****. Aviation consumes more.