The World Ocean Council (WOC) has convened the key green and sustainable shipping programs at several of the annual WOC Sustainable Ocean Summit (SOS) events in order to foster and facilitate communication among the programs and stimulate coordination.
In favour of the environment and aiming for an increase in international collaboration, Vancouver Fraser Port Authority is collaborating with the maritime industry, a group of global ports, governments and NGOs to enable:
- Marine carriers to take advantage of port-based financial incentives;
- Ports to offer incentives to environmentally-friendly vessels;
- Other industry stakeholders to become involved adding further value.
As WOC reported, up to 50 ports offer or participate in incentive programs for vessels that seek to go beyond the usual and set priorities, such as air emissions, underwater noise, creating a patchwork that is increasingly difficult for marine carriers to make sense of and take advantage of.
Port of Vancouver suggests that this situation would be better-served by a web-based portal for marine carriers, ports and other stakeholders to access information on the incentive programs and environmental infrastructure.
For instance, this kind of portal cloud could include:
- An incentive calculator: For shipping lines to enter a route and high level environmental data and assess potential cumulative incentives available at the ports on a route.
- An incentive application portal: For ports to access information entered centrally by shipping lines, to simplify or automate the application and administration process for discounts.
- An information management system: To raise awareness and facilitate coordination and management of information related to incentive programs.
The proposed portal would make it easier to learn about, participate in and offer incentives on a global scale, facilitate tracking of cumulative benefits and foster partnerships and identification of synergies, adding additional value. The portal would not replace incentive programs or third party rating systems or seek to make incentive programs mandatory or harmonize criteria for incentives.
