Green ships calling at Antwerp are now being rewarded by a discount
Environment-friendly ships calling at Antwerp are now being rewarded by a discount but it seems Rotterdam is finding that the scheme may initially need a lower threshold.
The Environmental Ship Index (ESI) initiative by the International Association of Ports and Harbours developed a free online index which enables ships to register their Green status and ports to register the benefits they are willing to give to cleaner vessels.
The ports in involved, Le Havre, Bremen, Hamburg, Rotterdam, Amsterdam and Antwerp, have started their schemes to offer discounts, but while Antwerp is just starting, Rotterdam, which opened its scheme in January still has no takers, and so it is wondering whether a little flex is needed in the system to make it more attractive.
On the basis of data such as fuel consumption and emissions, each ship is given a score on a scale from 0 to 100 (from highly polluting to emission-free). So far more than 250 ships have been given a score.
Tie Schellekens of the port of Rotterdam told PS that We started offering discounts to ships with 31 points, but nobody has qualified for this yet, so we are looking at whether we should lower our conditions just a little to get this started.
Antwerp itself, like Rotterdam, is looking for seagoing ships with a score of 31 or more. It is offering a discount of 10% on the tonnage dues guaranteed for three years.
Source: Port Strategy
