Flagship Founders founds Zero44 from

Zero44 aims to help shipping companies reduce their CO2 emissions. The software is set to be launched on the market this year.

The company builder Flagship Founders has spun off its third start-up: The company, called Zero44, measures the CO2 emissions of ships and makes recommendations on how shipping companies can optimize their processes with as few emissions as possible. The Berlin-based start-up is managed by the two co-founders Friederike Hesse and Nils Obermann.

"The shipping industry urgently needs solutions to become more sustainable - and not just in a few years or decades, but right now," says Hesse. The start-up has developed a digital solution that makes recommendations to shipping companies based on measured CO2 emissions. It calculates the costs and economic impact of decisions and suggests optional shipping routes, for example. The start-up also includes in its recommendations whether it makes economic sense for a company to pay a surcharge for higher CO2 emissions. Zero44 is currently still in the product development phase and is currently building up its team and customer relationships. According to the start-up, it plans to launch the software this year.

Zero44's offer may come at the right time: from 2023, stricter climate protection regulations will come into force that rate ships according to their CO2 efficiency. Operators will then have to submit concrete plans to reduce CO2 emissions for ships with a poor rating. In addition, EU emissions trading could soon be extended to shipping. Shipping companies would then have to purchase CO2 certificates to offset their emissions in European waters. This could increase operating costs for shipping companies.