THE Alliance vessels have been sailing around the Cape of Good Hope, rather than via the Suez Canal – but are still beating rival carriers in carbon emission reductions, according to Xeneta's latest data.

Yang Ming, recently the surprise winner in Xeneta's emissions study of the Asia-Europe tradelane, is now touted as the top carrier on the Europe-Asia backhaul as well.

Yang Ming, with a Carbon Efficiency Index (CEI) score of 80.4, beat CMA CGM's 88.3, HMM's 89.4 and MSC' 124.4, despite the fact that its ships are going further, via the Cape, which could be expected to increase CO2 emissions.