A new international council has been established to oversee greenhouse-gas emissions accounting and data-handling rules in the Ro-Ro shipping industry.
The GRC Council would manage the Global Ro-Ro Community’s emissions methodology, governance framework and related data rules, classification society ClassNK said.
The community’s participants include Ro-Ro carriers, cargo owners, independent verifiers and other stakeholders, representing about 80% of global car-carrier capacity, measured in car-equivalent units, according to ClassNK.
The council will review and update the methodology used to calculate vessel-level greenhouse-gas emission intensity and oversee the handling of emissions data.
The Global Ro-Ro Community was established by the Smart Freight Centre in 2024 to improve the accuracy, transparency and comparability of emissions information in the sector.
Its methodology, published in 2025, is aligned with the ISO 14083 standard and the Global Logistics Emissions Council Framework. It uses independently verified primary data to calculate vessel-level emissions intensity.
ClassNK said demand for verified emissions information was increasing because of FuelEU Maritime, International Maritime Organization greenhouse-gas measures and corporate Scope 3 reporting requirements.
The data can be used by Ro-Ro carriers, vehicle manufacturers and other cargo owners to measure emissions associated with transporting vehicles and rolling cargo.
ClassNK has served as an independent verifier for the community and contributed to the council’s governance framework and data-handling rules.
The classification society’s general manager of green certification, Hiroshi Ochi, has been elected vice-chair of the council.
