Amazon is opting for sea transportation to avoid thousands of tons of CO₂ emissions. The company will be operating multiple sea routes to transfer inventory between buildings in Italy and Spain, benefitting customers with broader selection and faster deliveries, and sellers with wider geographical reach for their products in foreign marketplaces.
To ensure that customers across Europe benefit from wide a selection of products and fast, reliable delivery, Amazon analyze which items are ordered most frequently by location to place inventory closer to where customers live.
Almost half of our warehouse transfers between Italy and Spain are now transported by sea. By moving these products by sea, instead of via road by trucks, we can significantly reduce our carbon footprint on these routes. In 2022, Amazon will transfer thousands of truckloads between its buildings by sea in Europe, saving thousands of tons of CO₂ emissions, Sea routes provide a more efficient, less carbon intensive, and, in some cases faster mode of freight transport in comparison to other alternatives.
– Helder Velho, EU Vice President, Surface Transportation
As the company navigate towards becoming a net zero carbon business by 2040, they are partnering with European carriers like the Grimaldi Group, who lead in more sustainable waterborne transportation by using hybrid eco-friendly vessels.
Amazon has been using sea transportation to move inventory between its European buildings since 2019. In Southern Europe, Amazon initially launched two routes to serve customers in Sardinia and Sicily. Since then, Amazon has launched multiple sea routes connecting Italy to Spain and is operating more than 170 sea routes across Europe.
