Posted on August 18, 2025
A cargo transfer milestone has been reached at a Chinese port. But the haul wasn’t typical products, but rather, air pollution. It’s a fascinating achievement that could provide shipping with another revenue stream, astoundingly from ship exhaust, according to the Maritime Executive.
Evergreen’s 152,300-deadweight-ton Ever Top was retrofitted last year with tech to capture carbon dioxide from exhaust, lassoing nearly 80% of emissions with a nearly 100% purity. The stored fumes can then be sold at a profit for other uses, per ME and Interesting Engineering.
The transfer happened on June 19 at the Port of Shanghai thanks to special onboard equipment, including absorption and regeneration modules, compression refrigeration, and storage. Past efforts that used trucks and tanks to offload the CO2 were more complicated. In Shanghai, a barge vessel called De Jin parked alongside Ever Top to complete the move, heralded by Chinese officials as a novel effort, ME reported.
“For scaled operations, ship-to-ship transfer offers clear advantages. It is significantly cheaper than land transport and much more efficient,” project manager Du Mingsai said in IE’s story.
The retrofit cost about $10 million. But reports indicated the expense can be more than recouped within two years by selling the stored carbon. ME said that experts estimated ships could make an amazing $8 million a year from selling tailpipe gases.
Drax Group, a United Kingdom renewable energy company not involved with the project, listed numerous product uses for captured carbon. Sneakers, furniture, cleaner concrete, and even alternative metal were some of the ones noted.
The push to capture carbon comes from efforts within the sector to reduce heat-trapping air pollution that is warming the atmosphere and oceans. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reported that around 91% of the excess heat produced on Earth is absorbed by the oceans. Coral bleaching, sea level rise, and other problems are linked to the warming waters, per the agency.
The European Federation for Transport and Environment reported that the sector produces about 3% of global CO2 fumes, which is expected to grow by half by 2050 if “stringent measures are not taken.”
New-age sails, kites, and hydrogen fuel are some other options being harnessed to cut the use of dirty energy in maritime travel. But ME reported that the Ever Top retrofit costs less than a new vessel or an alternative fuel conversion.
“From onboard storage to mobile transfer and reuse, the milestone gives Shanghai a full-chain ecosystem for maritime carbon capture. It also positions the city as a global model for cutting shipping emissions and sets a new benchmark for the industry’s green transition,” IE’s Neetika Walter wrote.
But not all of the headlines coming from the Far East seas are squeaky clean. CBS News reported that China is using so-called “dark” vessels to transfer dirty oil between ships as the country continues to buy the fossil fuel from heavily sanctioned Iran. The ships have disabled their transponders, making them tough to ID. China buys 90% of Iran’s oil and calls the transactions legitimate, all according to CBS.
Staying informed about key environmental issues can help you judge if efforts happening at home and around the world are legitimately meeting sustainability goals. Sometimes companies and countries tout big projects with little actual progress.
Choosing cleaner travel options can also make a difference. Public transportation is a way to curb pollution. Every mile traveled via public means instead of driving cuts about a pound of heat-trapping fumes. The move can also save you serious cash in your transportation budget.
