Port Of Rotterdam To Investigate Incentives For Low Carbon Vessels

“The adoption of the war room’s A to G rating by many of the world’s top 100 ports would create an incentive market for carbon efficient ships worth over US$100 million to shipowners.”—Sir Richard Branson, Founder of Carbon War Room

September 19, 2014, Rotterdam—Carbon War Room welcomed an announcement from Port of Rotterdam Authority today that it will investigate an extension of its current incentives scheme, which focuses on local pollutants, to include low-carbon vessels. At a joint event hosted by the Port of Rotterdam, Carbon War Room, and Dutch network organization Pure Birds the port pledged to work with its fellow members of the World Port Climate Initiative (WPCI) to select a carbon index for the port’s environmental incentives for ships.

“The Port of Rotterdam, along with other ports, shippers, and shipping companies has taken the initiative to establish a good carbon index.”—Tie Schellekens, Port of Rotterdam.

If Carbon War Room’s rating system is adopted, Rotterdam would join Canadian ports Vancouver and Prince Rupert in offering reduced port dues to vessels rated highly on the A to G rating. The rating ranks ships against their peers, based on their relative fuel efficiency and carbon footprint. Although much smaller in size than Rotterdam, Prince Rupert Port has already issued discounts of $72,000 to 83 vessels in the first six months of the scheme: a significant saving for owners and operators in an increasingly squeezed market.

Port of Rotterdam is the largest port in Europe and the fourth largest in the world; last year it saw over 29,000 ship visits and handled 440 million tonnes of cargo. Carbon War Room would like to see the A to G rating adopted by many more of the world’s top 100 ports, which would create an incentive market for carbon efficient ships that could be worth more than US$100m per year.

“We are pleased that the port is extending its leadership position in sustainability by taking the A-G rating into consideration.”—Warwick Norman, CEO, RightShip

Among charterers, less efficient vessels are becoming unattractive; more charterers are adopting the A to G rating as policy to charter more efficient vessels. The rating is now in use by charterers representing 23% or 1.8 billion tons, of the world’s non-container commodities.

On September 18-19, Carbon War Room, together with Pure Birds, conducted workshops at the Port of Rotterdam with leading stakeholders from cargo owners, shipowners, technology providers, and financiers to explore how the maritime transport industry can achieve system-wide reductions in costs and carbon emissions.

Coen Faber from Pure Birds commented, “The workshop with Carbon War Room on ship efficiency is the culmination of much hard work to build a network of sustainable businesses. We are delighted to have a number of cargo owners with us today and tomorrow to discuss. The Port Authority’s announcement demonstrates the industry’s commitment to tackling carbon emissions.”