SD Strategy Highlights

We will respect and care for our employees and other stakeholders, unlocking the potential for all of us to grow.

• CNCo group employed 2,692 people in various locations around the world. Our seagoing employees come from 31 countries and regions and our shore-based employees come from 40 countries and regions.


• There were 34 female officers among our seagoing employees, which is a 79% increase from 2018. This increase in numbers was a result of CNCo's Diversity & Inclusion (D&I) drive and IMO's initiative to promote better gender balance in the shipping industry.


• We have established and filled a position of the D&I Manager during the year, and she will drive various D&I initiatives within the Group going forwards.


• 927 CNCo seagoing employees received 22,000 hours of training which is more than double that of the prior year. The total cost of the discretionary training in 2019 was almost USD 1.9 million which is a very significant investment given the current difficult shipping market conditions. The overall cost of training for shore-based employees also increased to USD 734,471 (a 128% increase over 2018 levels).

We will help create a resilient environment that provides for our future.

• CNCo has made considerable progress towards improving our fleet fuel efficiency. We introduced and embedded various Technical and Operational (T&O) measures which resulted in a USD 6 million in fuel savings and the reduction of 47,146 tCO₂ emissions to the environment over the reporting period. We continue to invest in new technologies which will result in lower fuel consumption and thus further emission reduction.


• We have set ourselves a more aggressive goal to reduce liner and bulk fleet operating efficiency exceeding that which has been suggested in the IMO Initial Strategy. We measure and monitor this on a monthly basis. We continue to work with both our operating divisions and fleet management on strategies towards gradual annual reduction.


• During 2019 we achieved significant reductions in the usage of single-use plastic (SUP) water bottles on board our bulk and liner fleet:


• Swire Bulk fleet has reduced SUP water bottles consumption by 70%.
• Swire Shipping has reduced consumption on several vessels by 50%, with two vessels taking nil bottles for six months.


• We launched the "Say No to Single-Use Plastic" campaign in October 2019 in our offices, as part of our drive to help reduce our employees' unnecessary plastic footprint.


• CNCo joined the Getting to Zero Coalition in September 2019 together with more than 90 companies within the maritime, energy, infrastructure and finance sectors, supported by key governments and intergovernmental organisations (IGOs). The Coalition aims to curb the emissions from shipping by investing in commercially viable zero emission vessels that must start entering the global fleet by 2030.


• We have explored the option of using battery stored hydrogen to supplement burning fuel oil for our coastal vessels in New Zealand (NZ). We have also started to investigate using power from ashore, termed "Cold Ironing". This involves the provision of electrical power from the shore, which in NZ has a very low Grid Conversion Factor (or carbon footprint), to vessels while they are alongside.


• CNCo's investment in Project Cerulean is our contribution towards low carbon shipping solutions for the Pacific Islands Countries and Territories (PICT) where commercial shipping is often not a viable solution.

We will work with communities wherever we operate to improve people's lives.

• Our Moana Taka Partnership (MTP), in close collaboration with SPREP, enables private sector companies to move recyclable waste, where it is accumulating in the PICTs, to countries with competent and sustainable recycling plants, thus protecting and improving the environment in the Pacific region. In 2019, CNCo shipped out around 616.3 tonnes of low-value recyclable waste which otherwise would have ended up in local landfills.


• CNCo has a long-term partnership with Endangered Species International (ESI) in South Mindanao, the Philippines, working to protect the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) designated 'critically endangered' Philippine forest turtles on Mount Matutum. Under this partnership, ASSM volunteers (who are CNCo seafarers) work in the field alongside ESI personnel on various conservation and community engagement activities. Our volunteers helped to plant 1,650 seedlings, monitor 820 trees and collect 424 kg of non-biodegradable waste.


• We continued our support of the Family Support Centre (FSC) in Honiara, Solomon Islands, in the programme: Responding to Violence Against Women and Girls in Solomon Islands. FSC assisted 1,244 women, men, boys and girls in 2019.


• Our employees from our Singapore office spent 97 hours on corporate volunteering work during the year.