As of 1 January 2011, the ports of Amsterdam, Moerdijk, Dordrecht and Rotterdam will be rewarding clean ocean-going vessels with discounts on their port dues. This involves vessels which score well on the Environmental Ship Index (ESI). This is a new international standard for ships’ emissions into the atmosphere.  Ships which perform better than the legal norm will be rewarded.

The ESI is a certificate that will be awarded by the World Port Climate Initiative, at the request of the ship, from 1 January 2011 onwards (see www.environmentalshipindex.org). The ESI was designed by the ports of Le Havre, Bremen, Hamburg, Antwerp, Amsterdam and Rotterdam. The index shows the environmental performance of ships in terms of the emission of air pollutants (NOx and SOx) and CO2. Ports and other nautical service providers throughout the world can use the index to reward ships and, in this way, encourage sustainable behaviour in the shipping industry. 

Sustainable growth

The ports of Amsterdam, Moerdijk, Dordrecht and Rotterdam will be the first to start using the ESI to reward clean ocean-going vessels. Hans Smits, Port of Rotterdam Authority CEO, and Dertje Meijer, director of the Port of Amsterdam, apply the same strategy here: “It is very important that seaports develop in a sustainable way. Making port tariffs greener and rewarding clean vessels is in keeping with this. The more ports and ships that use the ESI, the more this will start to influence behaviour in the shipping industry.” In the meantime, Antwerp, Hamburg and Bremen have also announced their intention to use the ESI.

World Port Climate Initiative

World Port Climate Initiative is a collective of 55 prominent ports which work actively 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, which represents the interests of seaports internationally.