According to the Environmental Ship Index (ESI) the Olympus, a product tanker of the Swedish shipping company Sirius Rederi, is the most sustainable ship to arrive in the port of Rotterdam in 2013. The tanker scored highly on this index of 2354 ships on a worldwide level as well. There the ship occupies fourth position worldwide, with 65.7 points. With 78.3 points the LNG tankers Al Marrouna Al Areesh and Al Daayen from Teekay Shipping are the most sustainable ships sailing the world’s seas.
It is the third time that the Port Authority – one of the initiators of the development of the ESI – has awarded the prize for the most sustainable ship. In 2011 vehicle carrier Morning Carol won the prize, in 2012 it was container ship Cosco Pride and now it is the Olympus. In 2013 the Port Authority invested approximately €3.5 million in sustainable shipping by sponsoring ESI and the Green Award Foundation. Ships which score well in this certification system receive incentives valued at around five percent of the port tariffs payable.
Olympus’ sustainable performance
The Olympus is currently moored in the Port of Rotterdam. She arrived this evening at Vopak in the Botlek. The product tanker achieved such a high ESI score, because a catalytic converter has been installed in her, which reduces the nitrogen (NOx) emissions by 90%. The ship has the technology to meet the strict requirements which will soon apply to new ships on the North Sea (in 2016 or – highly likely – 2021).
“This ship’s reduction is even higher than that of engines running on LNG (liquefied natural gas). Currently the market does not yet offer any LNG engines which can satisfy that future legislation. They will probably come about. For sulphur emission the Olympus will mainly sail in the SECA: Sulphur Emission Control Area. That means that the fuel must contain less than 1% sulphur at sea. From 2015 this will be 0.1%, with 0.1% sulphur in the port. Heavy fuel oil is therefore not an option for the Olympus. The ship has no scrubber for extra sulphur dioxide reduction. She therefore does not score in this area as well as ships which use LNG for fuel,” according to Fer van der Laar, European director of the International Association for Ports and Harbors (IAPH).
Environmental Ship Index
The ESI is a certificate issued on 1 January 2011 by the World Port Climate Initiative, on request of the ship owners. The index shows how ships perform environmentally in their emissions of air pollution (NOx and SOx) and CO2.
Ports and other nautical service providers all around the world can use the index to reward ships and thus stimulate sustainable behaviour in shipping. Twenty-seven ports and other nautical service providers now award bonuses to ‘ESI ships’ that attain a certain score. These ports include Rotterdam, Antwerp, Los Angeles, New York, Sohar and Vancouver.
The World Ports Climate Initiative is a collective of 55 leading ports which actively make an effort to reduce air pollution and the emission of CO2 in particular. It does this under the auspices of the International Association of Ports and Harbors, the international representative of sea ports
ESI Top 20 Worldwide 2013
ESI Top 20 Rotterdam 2013
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Port of Rotterdam Authority
The aim of the Port of Rotterdam Authority is to enhance the port of Rotterdam’s competitive position as a logistics hub and world-class industrial complex. Not only in terms of size, but also quality. The core tasks of het Port Authority are to develop, manage and run the port in a sustainable way and to maintain a speedy and safe service for shipping.
Facts and figures for the Port Authority and the Port of Rotterdam:
- Port Authority: 1,100 employees, turnover approx. € 600 million. www.portofrotterdam.com
- Port area: 12,500 ha port area (land & water, of which ca. 6,000 ha industrial sites). The length of the port area is over 40 km.
- Direct employment: over 87,000 jobs. Goods throughput: approx. 450 million tonnes of goods a year.
- Shipping: approx. 30,000 ocean-going vessels and 100,000 inland vessels per annum.
Visit Port of Rotterdam’s website at http://www.portofrotterdam.com
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