The highest reported emitters

A ranking that is easy to misread, and what it actually shows.

Sorting the register by absolute CO₂ produces a list dominated by large container ships, cruise vessels and car carriers. It is a real ranking of real reported figures, and it is one of the most misread numbers in shipping.

What it measures

Absolute emissions track work done. A ship near the top of this list ran hard all year, carrying a great deal over a long distance. A vessel absent from it may have been laid up. Neither fact says anything about how efficiently either ship converts fuel into freight moved.

The efficiency question is answered by EEOI, and the two lists barely overlap. Several of the highest absolute emitters sit comfortably in the better half of their type by efficiency, precisely because they move so much cargo per voyage.

Where to look instead

Each ship type page carries the median EEOI for that type, and every vessel page shows where that ship sits against it for the most recent year. That comparison, within a type and within a year, is the one worth making.

Year by year totals are on the reporting year pages, which cover 2018 to 2025, and the top hundred emitters for each period are listed there.