Keep in mind that transportation via ship isn’t a large hit on Co2 emission. The ship itself is, but if you look at all the cargo it can contain, it is going to be much more efficient than an airplane or even a car. So next time you have to wait a month for AliExpress shipment, you can sleep well with regards to Co2 emissions from the shipment (says nothing about the product).
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All true, regarding CO2; but I guess the simple reason is, that they have no factory with all the special assembly lines and the necessary stock of spare-parts in Europe.
Disassembling, testing and reassembling is done by those, that produced the phones in the first place, and they are experienced and equipped to do the testing like @Stefan said.
Btw.: Even if CO2 for the transport is not that much of a factor, that can’t be a valid argument in my opinion. Because if it were, buying a Fairphone could be considered unnecessary as well, as the percentage of enhancement on social welfare, etc. can hardly be measured regarding the phone market as such.
I hope we do agree, that doing good does count in small quantities/measures as well. And saving on CO2 whenever possible is a good thing, as I see it. Cargo ships are running on heavy oil, which is a very, very dirty stuff to burn.
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According to the linked blog post they use air freight (and they use it for a reason: time saving) (bold/italic by me):
Looking at the overall life cycle, transport increases global warming potential (GWP) by just 6.8% — most of which is from air freight. The only way to reduce this would be to use rail transport, which is unfortunately too slow, unsafe, and underdeveloped to be a real option at the moment.
Hmm… I hope they saved a few spare in their warehouse - they are supposed to replace the faulty one they originally sent me… 
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You bet on that.
They sure will have a stack of spare parts as well.
Don’t worry, for warranty cases they need to have those supplies.
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That’s untrue then, the other way to reduce this would be to use container ships.
Folks, you are aware that Stefan simply meant “ship” as in “send”, aren’t you? Neither Fairphone nor Stefan meant to hoist the sails.
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Well, we of course don’t know the transportation-possibilities they have checked and the results.
Maybe shipping takes too much time, as they have to add their cargo to other freight, 'cause I doubt, they will fill a container on their own.
And I am not sure when it comes to the environmental impact of the different transportation methods. Although this site makes cargo-shipping look much more ecological then airfreight.
https://ecotransit.org/calculation.en.html
https://ecotransit.org/calculation.de.html
https://ecotransit.org/calculation.fr.html
I have tried the standard version for 1 container from Amsterdam, NL, to Shenzen, P.R.C.
To me it seems Rail would be the most eco-friendly way for transportation.
Next are truck and sea-ship, while airplane is the least eco-friendly way.
The scientific stuff behind this calculator must be this paper:
Ecological Transport Information Tool for Worldwide Transports - Methodology and Data Update
If you are an expert you can change the relevant factors:
- Emission standard
- Load factor
- Empty trip factor
- Fuel type
- Vehicle type/ship type etc.
I always wonder, what one can find online.
I guess, that would be the most sustainable means of transportation of all.
For transatlantic transports there is this company:
Anyone surprised, it’s a dutch company? Not me!
Here’s a four year old list of sail freight projects around the world
And here’s an article on the top 7 green ship concepts using wind energy
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