Asia‑Pacific emerges as dual hub in shipping’s fuel transition

China accounted for 17% of global ship carbon dioxide emissions.

Asia-Pacific is emerging as a dual centre of gravity in shipping’s fuel transition, spanning the region’s outsized emissions footprint and growing bunkering infrastructure, according to DNV’s 2026 edition of its Maritime Forecast to 2050.

China accounts for 17% of global tank-to-wake carbon dioxide emissions from ships above 5,000 gross tonnage, the largest single-country share in DNV’s analysis, ahead of the EU/European Economic Area at 14% and the US at 9%.

Japan, Singapore, Korea, and Australia each contribute 4% of the global total, with India at 3% and Indonesia and Malaysia at 2% apiece.

On the regulatory front, China’s Ministry of Transport reiterated in an April 2026 high-level policy its intention to further develop the country’s green and low-carbon shipping transition, building on the Maritime Safety Administration’s MRV system introduced in 2022.

The policy stops short of confirming whether an emissions trading scheme (ETS) will follow, or whether such a scheme would apply to foreign-flagged vessels.

China’s National Development and Reform Commission has separately rolled out a 2025 investment scheme offering up to 20% public co-funding for low-carbon demonstration projects.

It explicitly covers sustainable aviation fuel, green methanol, and fuels derived from carbon capture, utilisation, and storage.

Türkiye’s proposed TR ETS has been approved and is expected to launch as a pilot in 2026, though its scope in terms of ship types, size threshold, and reporting procedures has yet to be defined.

South Korea’s K-ETS and Shanghai’s Pilot ETS remain confined to domestic shipping, with no announced plans to expand to international voyages.

On infrastructure, DNV’s mapping of low-GHG bunkering operations worldwide found Europe and East Asia hold the clearest concentration of activity.

All three ports currently recording low-GHG ammonia bunkering operations are located in East Asia.

Low-GHG methanol has been supplied in at least 16 ports globally, mainly in East Asia and parts of Western Europe.

Singapore is positioned as the region’s principal bunkering hub: most of the 24 operational methanol bunker vessels are based there, alongside four in Chinese ports and five in European ports.

The city-state will also host the world’s first ammonia bunker vessel order, a 5,000-cubic-metre vessel now on the order book, DNV said.