SIMIC

Maersk aims to have a carbon-neutral fleet by 2030 in order to meet its target of net-zero emissions by 2050, said the report.

The ICS has said it is in favour of shipping going net zero by 2050, having submitted plans to the UN's International Maritime Organisation (IMO), in October 2021.

Maersk, one of the world's largest shipping groups, has been part of ICS's board for around a decade, but Maersk executive and board member Henriette Hallberg Thygesen has stepped down after an annual revision of trade association memberships.

"We review our membership status once a year to ensure that the trade associations in which we are members lobby in alignment with the goals of the Paris Agreement as well as other key issues," Maersk said on its website.

The Paris agreement is a legally binding treaty between the world's countries, agreed in 2015, which aims to limit global warming by curbing global greenhouse gas emissions.

"Our choice to step down from the ICS Board should also be seen in this context," it added, without specifying what it disagreed with ICS's stance.

Maersk also said it would focus its efforts on its membership of the World Shipping Council (WSC), a trade group for container lines.

ICS, which has members from over 40 countries and represents over 80 per cent of the world's commercial fleet, promotes "best practices throughout the shipping industry," its website says.