Menu Home / Media / Stories / Summary 2020: A safe and sustainable year Summary 2020: A safe and sustainable year Stena Line is determined to be the leader in sustainable shipping. And even though the COVID-19 pandemic changed the world around us in 2020, we focused on keeping our 2.2 million passengers and 4,300 employees safe and the vital supply lines in Europe open. We sailed a total distance equivalent to 121 laps around the world and at the same time we continued to lower our emissions. In 2020 - we have more than ever fulfilled our vision Connecting Europe for a Sustainable Future. Apr 6, 2021 Sustainability Our commitment to sustainability centers around five of the UN Sustainable Development Goals where we aim to lead the transformation towards a more sustainable future within the shipping industry by improving our operation step by step. For each of these focus we have defined ambitious long and short term targets. This is how we delivered on these targets in 2020. Affordable and clean energy During 2020 we reduced our CO2 emissions more than we reduced the distance we sailed. Our total CO2 emissions decreased by 12 % and by 2,3 % per nautical mile. Our fleet became more modern and energy efficient with the introduction of three next generation E-Flexer ferries on the Irish Sea, the introduction of the AI assistant Stena Fuel Pilot on five more vessels sailing between Sweden, Germany and Denmark as well as the introduction of a green shore power connection in Kiel, Germany. The Global Sulphur Cap introduced on 1 January 2020 led to a sharp decline in sulphur (Sox) emissions by 60,6 % when our whole Irish Sea fleet changed to low sulphur fuel. We also increased the use of renewable electricity from 82 % to 99,8 % by switching to green electricity in the whole UK shore operation. Gender equality The maritime industry has been rather conservative, and male dominated, which we want to change. Our long term target is total gender equality on all levels of the company. But we start with our leaders. During 2020 one out of every five managers at Stena Line was a woman, an increase by 42% in five years (from 14 to 20%). Before the end of 2022 our intention is that 30% of all managers, on all levels of the company, shall be females; from ferries and ports to management teams and, importantly, at board level. We aim to have harassment-free workplace. We are happy to report a decrease in the number of reported cases of harassment during 2020, but we have still not reached our target of zero cases. Good Health & Wellbeing During 2020 and the COVID-19 pandemic we’ve introduced additional safety measures to the already ambitious safety standards onboard all our vessels and at our ports, terminals and offices. We have not been spared from positive cases but the numbers are low compared to the 2,2 million passengers we have transported during 2020 and the approximately 25,000 sailing we have conducted. In a survey between 80-90 % of our customers answers that they are satisfied with our COVID-19 safety measures. The accident frequency for our crew (LTIF) decreased to 1.7 (1.9) but we still aim for 1.0 on short term. The number of passenger accidents ended up at 2.6 accidents per 100,000 guests, well below our target. Responsible consumption At Stena Line we aim to increase the share of material recycled waste. During 2020 we reached an all–time high in recycling and a total of 41,4 % of the total waste of plastic, metal, paper and glass was recycled, while 37,4 % of the waste was used for energy recycling. The remaining 21,3 % went to landfill. We continued our focus on sustainable food and from January 1st 2020, all fish and seafood offered onboard our vessels is bought from MSC or ASC certified companies. After several years reducing and replacing single-use plastic across our fleet we had to bring more plastic packaging back again to ensure food safety during the COVID-19 pandemic during 2020. Our long term target is to phase out all single-use plastic fleet-wide. Life below water During 2020 we passed the re-certification for ISO 14001:2015, an international standard for environmental management systems and a tool for the company to improve in the sustainability field. We did see an unfortunate increase in the number of spills during 2020, but the quantity spilled remained on low levels. After several years reducing the use of more powerful chemicals in our operation we had to increase the use again due to strict safety and hygiene protocols onboard our vessels, in our ports and terminals and in our offices to minimize the risk of spreading the COVID-19 virus. Follow our sustainable journey on www.stenaline.com/sustainability Key figures 2020 (4.2MB) Download All stories Recent stories Stena Germanica refuels with recycled methanol from residual steel gases Stena Line takes delivery of Stena Scandica Stena Line’s new ferry ‘floats out’ in China Stena Line challenges the shipping industry – by going electric Cut CO2 by 30 % by 2030 – is it possible? 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