About us
Every journey should come with its carbon footprint.
We believe passengers should know the climate impact of every journey before they choose how they travel. Carbon emissions should be available alongside price and journey time, at the point of decision and at the point of sale. That's what we're here to change.
Why we exist
When we buy almost anything, we're given information to help us make a decision - price, quality, reviews and delivery time. Transport should be no different.
At any one moment there are around 20,000 aircraft in the sky around the world, while many thousands of commercial vessels are operating across our oceans. Much of this activity takes place in international airspace and international waters, beyond everyday public view - but its environmental impact is very real.
See it for yourself
Out of sight should never mean out of mind.
Why ferries?
We started with ferries because they are one of the most efficient ways to move both people and freight. Every day, ferries carry holidaymakers, commuters, cyclists, freight drivers, trucks and essential goods between communities. They support tourism, trade and local economies.
Yet when booking a ferry today, passengers can compare prices, sailing times and onboard facilities - but not carbon emissions.
We believe carbon should be as visible as the ticket price.
Our mission is complete when every ferry operator routinely publishes journey emissions alongside every ticket they sell. Until then, we'll do it independently.
How we measure
Our methodology
Everything we publish is based on publicly available data.
Ferry operators are already required to report their annual emissions under the European Union's Monitoring, Reporting and Verification (EU MRV) regulations.
The figures are independently verified before publication and are typically released around six months after the end of each reporting year. For example, throughout 2026 we use the verified reporting data from 2025.
Data source
EU MRV ship emissions database ↗
The published information includes:
- Total CO₂ emissions
- Total passengers carried
- Total freight carried
- Distance travelled
Every ferry operator submits this information annually, making it one of the most comprehensive public transport emissions datasets available anywhere in the world.
Fleet and route sources
Route and vessel information is sourced from ferry operators' own websites and relevant official route authorities.
How we calculate our rankings
Our objective is simple: make ferries comparable.
The reported emissions include both passengers and freight. Ferry operators allocate emissions separately between passenger transport (PAX) and freight transport (tonnes).
A passenger could be travelling on foot, by bicycle, motorcycle, car or as the driver of a freight vehicle. Freight emissions are allocated independently based on the tonnes of cargo carried.
Using the publicly reported passenger emissions together with the estimated nautical distance for each route, we calculate:
- CO₂ per passenger
- CO₂ per journey
- CO₂ per nautical mile
This provides a fair, transparent and consistent comparison between ferry operators.
Route distances
Route distances are in nautical miles. Where a ferry operator publishes a sailing distance for a route, we use it. Otherwise we use Reeds Nautical Almanac 2024, which gives distances by the most direct practicable route, allowing for traffic separation schemes. The distance we use for each route, and its source, is below.
| Route | Distance | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Dover–Calais | 27 NM | DFDS published sailing distance |
| Dover–Dunkirk | 47 NM | DFDS published sailing distance |
| Newhaven–Dieppe | 90 NM | DFDS published sailing distance |
| Portsmouth–Cherbourg | 88 NM | Allo Ferry |
| Poole–Cherbourg | 64 NM | Reeds Nautical Almanac 2024 |
| Portsmouth–Caen | 126 NM | Allo Ferry |
| Portsmouth–Le Havre | 126 NM | Allo Ferry |
| Plymouth–Roscoff | 97 NM | Allo Ferry, confirmed against Reeds Nautical Almanac 2024 |
| Portsmouth–St Malo | 172 NM | Allo Ferry |
Our calculations relate only to the ferry crossing itself.
When deciding how to travel, customers should consider the complete journey from start to finish. We provide one part of that picture - the ferry itself - in a way that is more transparent and comparable than is currently available.
There are, of course, many other factors that influence ship efficiency, including hull design, displacement, cargo mix, weather and operating conditions. The underlying physics includes Archimedes' principle, which describes the relationship between buoyancy and displacement. Those are fascinating areas of transport physics, but they also make comparisons considerably more complex. Our methodology provides the simplest and fairest comparison currently possible.
Why we focus on CO₂
Carbon dioxide is only one part of a ship's environmental impact.
Other pollutants - including nitrogen oxides (NOx), sulphur oxides (SOx) and particulate emissions - also affect air quality and the wider environment.
We recognise their importance and intend to incorporate additional measures as reporting evolves. For now, we focus on CO₂ because it is consistently measured, independently verified and publicly available.
Further reading
Transport & Environment: shipping ↗
Good decisions begin with good information.
Who we are
Independent by design
We don't sell ferry tickets.
We don't receive sponsorship from ferry operators.
We don't accept payments that influence our rankings or methodology.
Our role is simply to provide independent, transparent information that helps passengers make better-informed decisions.
Once you've chosen the crossing that best meets your needs, we direct you to the ferry operator to complete your booking.
We're here to inform - not to influence.
Today, passengers usually choose an operator and route rather than a specific vessel. In the future we'd like to see customers able to choose the exact ferry they wish to travel on, allowing environmental performance to become another meaningful part of the booking process.
Independent data
Everything on this website is built from publicly available information.
We receive no sponsorship, advertising or financial support from ferry operators or transport providers.
Our independence allows us to publish objective comparisons using transparent methodologies that anyone can verify.
We combine human expertise with technology to transform complex emissions reporting into practical information that passengers can use.
Supporting innovation
We applaud the investment ferry operators are making in hybrid propulsion, battery-electric vessels and other cleaner technologies.
As these innovations enter service, we look forward to seeing their impact reflected in future emissions data - and future league tables.
Transparency rewards innovation.
What's next?
Passenger travel is only the beginning.
Our next objective is to create similar comparisons for freight, enabling businesses to understand the carbon impact of transporting pallets and goods by ferry.
Ultimately, we want carbon transparency to become standard across every form of transport.
If customers can compare price and journey time, they should also be able to compare carbon.
Who we are
We're a purpose-driven team bringing together experience from business, engineering, technology and the not-for-profit sector.
Our mission is simple: to make transport emissions understandable, transparent and accessible to everyone.
We believe better information leads to better decisions.
We operate between the UK and France to help improve transport for future generations - economically, socially and environmentally.
An initiative by Graham Precey - Groupe Développement Normandie and Faz Karim.
How booking links work
When you choose a crossing, we link you to the ferry operator's own website to complete your booking. We don't sell tickets ourselves, and we receive no commission or payment from any operator. Our full terms are on our Terms of Use page.
Your privacy
We use Google Analytics to understand which pages people read, and only if you agree to it. Nothing runs before you choose, and declining doesn't limit any part of the site. We don't use advertising cookies and we don't sell your data. Full detail is in our Privacy Notice and Cookie Policy.
Our mark
The Ferry Scores mark is the Plimsoll line - the load marking painted on the hull of every merchant ship. It shows how deep a vessel can safely sit in the water, and it has been a legal requirement since 1876. We chose it because it is a measurement, not a claim.
Contact us
We're always looking to improve. If you have comments on our methodology, suggestions for improvement, or would simply like to discuss our work, we'd love to hear from you.
Contact: hello@ferryscores.com