Port of Melbourne has joined forces with the world’s largest container port, Port of Shanghai, aiming to establish a Green Shipping Corridor between the two ports.
The agreement was formalized at the 2025 North Bund Forum in Shanghai, China, on 19 October.
This joint initiative, supported by the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group brings together Port of Melbourne and Shanghai Municipal Transportation Commission in response to the Clydebank Declaration and the broader maritime supply chain decarbonization effort.
Under the Memorandum of Understanding, the parties will seek to:
- Collaborate with industry partners – including Shanghai International Port Group, COSCO SHIPPING Lines, HAMR Energy, and ABEL Energy to explore avenues to implement measures reducing the shipping industry’s environmental impact.
- Focus on environmentally sustainable practices, such as cleaner technology adoption, renewable energy source use, and best practice implementation to minimize the ecological footprint of shipping activities.
- Work closely with shipping lines to promote clean fuel adoption, with the goal of increasing clean-energy-powered ship usage operating between Shanghai and Melbourne.
- Explore opportunities with energy suppliers to accelerate production technology breakthroughs, improve efficiency and cost control, and establish an integrated supply chain system covering production, transportation, and storage to boost low carbon fuel supply capacity.
Saul Cannon, Chief Executive Officer of Port of Melbourne, commented, that this MoU represents significant development in our work toward decarbonizing the supply chain.
China is Port of Melbourne’s largest trading partner, accounting for 50% of total container imports and 20% of container exports. With the high trade volume between both ports, this partnership has the potential to provide material environmental benefits.
This milestone represents the culmination of a nearly two-decade-long partnership between Port of Melbourne and SMTC, which commenced in 2006.
