Pioneering Compagnie Maritime Belge (CMB), which turned 125 on Friday, is set to become the first shipping line in the world to be net zero.

CMB has announced all its carbon emissions will be offset starting this year, and long term the company, a leader in hydrogen propulsion, has pledged to invest in new technologies to operate a zero carbon fleet by 2050.

For this year, CMB has supported certified climate projects in developing countries, acquiring voluntary carbon units in Zambia, Guatemala and India.

On its 2050 total decarbonisation goal, CMB stated in a release: “CMB is of the opinion that it can achieve zero carbon emissions from its shipping operations in 2050. Even though many low and zero carbon technologies are still in the early stages of their development – and today there are unfortunately no economically viable alternatives to diesel – CMB is convinced that the shipping industry will find solutions to provide zero carbon shipping by 2050.”

CMB has been developing a range of hydrogen-related technologies in recent years.

“As we will bring concrete zero-carbon projects to life in the coming months and years, we will continue to actively engage and cooperate with other shipping companies, our customers, our suppliers, our banks and national and international politicians to achieve zero carbon shipping,” CMB stated.

Alexander Saverys, CEO of CMB, told Splash earlier this month he was expecting to see significant fuel developments during 2020.

“I’m not expecting any major large-scale breakthroughs because a lot of research is still in its early stages,” Saverys told Splash, saying he anticipates “smaller, but nevertheless meaningful breakthroughs”, which will serve as valuable testbeds in the development of larger applications.