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Sir Richard Branson has said that energy-efficient ships burning cleaner fuel should be given priority over vessels running on less environmentally-friendly fuel when calling at ports.

In an interview with Newsweek the Virgin Group Chairman and co-founder of eco-project Carbon War Room said that the initiative was in discussions with a number of ports in America, Africa and the Far East regarding the idea of giving the most fuel-efficient and eco-friendly ships priority over vessels with a lower rating as a strategy to reward efficient ships and penalize poor performers.

The new Carbon War Room initiative, launched on the website www.shippingefficiency.org, uses data compiled by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) to categorize 60,000 ships ships based on their energy efficiency from A to G, with A being the most efficient.

Commenting on the idea of prioritizing vessels according to their carbon footprint, Branson said: "If a ship A wants to come into the port, it maybe should have priority over a ship G. If there’s only one refueling truck, maybe the A ship should be given priority."

Branson referred also to a similar initiative launched for the aviation industry where Carbon War Room has been in discussions with airports regarding the issue of so called 'dirty planes'.

Commenting on the progress made so far, Branson said: "Some airports have actually started stopping dirty planes that use a lot of fuel coming into their airports. Heathrow’s done that, Gatwick’s done that," Branson said.

The launch of the Carbon War Room's online database was met with scepticism amongst certain members of the shipping community with the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) expressing 'serious concern' about the service, referring to it as 'misleading'.

"The Energy Efficiency Design Index, developed by the International Maritime Organization, has been used completely out of context. While the EEDI is an important benchmarking tool to help ships reduce their carbon emissions, it was not created to compare individual ships of different types with each other. Ships have very different construction and safety requirements, depending on their type and trade, which can cause their energy consumption to vary greatly. Also, the IMO methodology has not been approved for use with all types of ship. It is therefore inappropriate for the Carbon War Room to use this methodology to derive scores for completely different classes of ships," said ICS Secretary General, Peter Hinchliffe earlier this month.

"While the database may appear to show some shipping companies in a good light, it is not appropriate for the EEDI to be used as a tool by charterers to select more efficient ships, or for ports to use the data when setting their dues," ICS said.