Except for the catastrophic accidents that have made headlines, public's knowledge about the shipping industry remains limited. As a result, the public may form an unjust stereotype of the industry as ‘polluting’ and ‘unsustainable’, which reduces the industry's attractiveness to its potential employees and indirect customers (i.e. end-consumers). It is high time for the industry to shape its public image by not only acting sustainably but also communicating the same to the public. Thus, this study examines the shipping industry's sustainability communications in social media focusing on the Twitter interactions between the top container liners and the public. Adopting the 2030 Agenda and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as a normative framework, this study analyses the strategic fit of the sustainability communications by top shipping companies internally (i.e. consistency with core business) and externally (i.e. consistency with public expectation). A combined method of qualitative content analysis and quantitative statistic test is employed. Our findings suggest a trend of diversification in shipping companies' sustainability communications which gradually extend from SDGs related to the industry's core responsibilities to peripheral responsibilities. Contrarily, a trend of convergence in the public's response is observed where the public's attention is increasingly diverted from SDGs pertaining to the industry's peripheral responsibilities to the core ones. Based on the opposite trends, theoretical and managerial implications for maritime scholars and industry players are discussed; Sustainable communication strategies for the shipping industry are highlighted.

除了成为头条新闻的灾难性事故外，公众对航运业的了解仍然有限。因此，公众可能会对该行业形成“污染”和“不可持续”的不公正刻板印象，从而降低该行业对其潜在员工和间接客户（即最终消费者）的吸引力。该行业现在是通过不仅采取可持续行动而且进行交流来塑造其公众形象的时候了对公众也是一样。因此，本研究考察了航运业在社交媒体中的可持续性传播，重点关注顶级集装箱班轮公司与公众之间的 Twitter 互动。本研究采用 2030 年议程和可持续发展目标 (SDG) 作为规范框架，分析了顶级航运公司在内部（即与核心业务的一致性）和外部（即与公众期望的一致性）可持续发展沟通的战略契合度。采用定性内容分析和定量统计检验相结合的方法。我们的研究结果表明存在多元化趋势航运公司的可持续发展沟通逐渐从与行业核心责任相关的可持续发展目标延伸到外围责任。相反，公众的反应出现趋同的趋势，公众的注意力越来越多地从与行业外围责任相关的可持续发展目标转向核心责任。基于相反的趋势，讨论了对海事学者和行业参与者的理论和管理意义；强调了航运业的可持续沟通战略。