Tag: ESPO

New Ports Regulation Proposal to Emerge

2013 Green4Sea Forum - Vasilios Tselentis

Ship recycling levy would lead to an unwanted increase in port dues in EU ports of 25% Several Members of the European Parliament are considering to table a compromise amendment on the draft ship recycling Regulation in order to establish a funding mechanism that would ensure the conscious recycling of ships.The fund would be financed through a tonnage-based levy, which port authorities should charge on all ships calling at EU ports, irrespective of their flag. The ship recycling levy would lead to an unwanted increase in port dues in EU ports of 25% on average. In some ports the amendment would even lead to a doubling of the level of dues.The initial proposal of rapporteur Carl Schlyter (Greens EFA / Sweden - photo) introduced a levy of 0.03 Euro per gross tonne (GT). An impact assessment of the proposal took into account ESPO's findings that port dues would significantly increase, but came to the remarkable conclusion that there would be no risk of traffic evasion, since port dues only constitute a minor part of the total cost of a ship's voyage. The impact assessment even recommended to increase the levy to 0.05 Euro, which the compromise amendment now indeed proposes."We ...

Towards a Common Framework on Maritime Spatial Planning and Integrated Coastal Management

Greek and Italian Ports Achieve High Environmental Recognition

Land-Related Contracts Set to Exit from Concessions Directive

ESPO Concerned About Obligation to Equip Core Ports with LNG Facilities

uropean Sea Ports Organisation (ESPO) launched its new "Green Guide; Towards excellence in port environmental management and sustainability" during a dedicated session at the GreenPort Congress in Marseille. The new Guide fully revises and updates the last ESPO Environmental Code of Practice that was produced almost ten years ago.ESPO Chairman Victor Schoenmakers said to be delighted to present ESPO's new Guide: "I am confident that the ambitious goals of the Green Guide will encourage our members to further improve their track record in environmental management and performance." "This Guide is a product of ports for ports and I am very grateful to the members of the Sustainable Development Committee and the secretariat for the hard work they put in.", Mr Schoenmakers added.The guide goes a step further than previous editions. After re-establishing the ports' vision on sustainability, the Guide introduces a common framework for action under 'Five Es': Exemplify, Enable, Encourage, Engage and Enforce. This action framework is applied to five selected environmental issues: air quality, energy conservation and climate change, noise management, waste management and water management.In the foreword to the Guide, Commission Vice-President Siim Kallas wrote: "The application of the 'Five Es' is showing the way towards a ...

At the GreenPort Conference in Venice ESPO officially launched the new EcoPorts portal today at the GreenPort Conference in Venice. The portal marks the integration of EcoPorts within the structure of ESPO.Through this website, ESPO manages the EcoPorts network of ports and offers the opportunity to port authorities within its broad membership to use the well-established EcoPorts tools, Self Diagnosis Method (SDM) and Port Environmental Review System (PERS). SDM and PERS have been updated and re-launched as part of the services ESPO offers to its members.The new EcoPorts portal incorporates SDM as an online-based tool and provides visibility and credit to port authorities that achieve and maintain an "Ecoports port" status.The latter is achieved by any port registering within the new system and completing the online SDM questionnaire, contributing in this way to the up-to-date maintenance of the European benchmark of performance in port environmental management. Furthermore, the "Ecoports port" status allows ports to access, implement and get certified by PERS, the only port sector specific environmental management standard."ESPO is in a unique position to encourage best practice among its member ports and to set challenging targets.", said ESPO Secretary General Patrick Verhoeven, "The integration of EcoPorts within the structure ...