An invitation to become a greener port

This year’s event, organised by Mercator Media, will be held from 6 to 9 October 2015 at the DGI-byen Copenhagen and will be hosted by Copenhagen Malmö Port (CMP).

In 2014, the GreenPort Congress and Cruise event hosted by the Port of Barcelona played host to 98 port authorities and terminal operators from a total of over 200 environment and sustainability professionals. It brought together all those parties interested in the importance of working together with stakeholders and the local community to achieve emissions targets at ports.

What to expect

Day one this year will kick off with the CMP’s CEO Johan Röstin giving the welcome address and Isabelle Ryckbost, Secretary General, ESPO, who will participate in the opening session as one of the keynote speakers.

The first session of the day will focus on global versus regional shipping regulations and their impact on ports; Dimitrios Theologitis, Head of Unit Ports & Inland Navigation will give a keynote address before Niels Bjørn Mortensen, Director, regulatory Affairs, Maersk Maritime Technology, Dr Martin Kröger, Managing Director, VDR and other stakeholders discuss what impact has been felt so far from the ECA 0.1% sulphur regulations which came into force on 1 January 2015.

During the day there will also be a discussion on the changing expectations of a green port, importantly this will promote discussion between ship owners and operators, logistics providers, terminal operators, the local community and environmental NGOs.

Working group sessions will focus on fuel options for SECA Compliance (moderated by NABU), port reception facilities and improving efficiency in terminal operations.

Day two sessions will centre around port city relationships geared around regulation of particulate matter (PM) and whether/how local authorities track their levels. The first session will be moderated by Professor Daniel Moon from the World Maritime University.

The afternoon session will focus on inland logistics, multimodal solutions and traffic management, taking a closer look at multimodal solutions, connectivity of ports via rail investments and making sustainability walk hand in hand with efficiency and competition.

Student poster presentations will be followed by the second day working group sessions, topics to include port city development, new port initiatives and port planning and expansion.

Day three will see the traditional port tour take place for delegates arranged by this year’s host.

This year’s gold sponsor of the Congress is RightShip and joining them are Konecranes and Schneider Electric with further support coming from the Danish Ports Association, EcoPorts Foundation (EPF), The European Federation of Inland Ports (EFIP), ESPO, Feport, the German Shipowners’ Association (Verband Deutscher Reeder, VDR) and the International Windship Association.

Don’t forget GreenPort Cruise

This year’s GreenPort Cruise event, which is always held the day ahead of the main GreenPort Congress, will take place on 6 October 2015.

The programme will include the hot topics of ECA compliance: LNG, fuel switching and scrubbers, dealing with waste from cruise ships, avoiding noise and vibration pollution in city ports and innovative cruise ship terminal designs.

There will also be a lively panel discussion facilitating debate on how cruise lines, port and city can all work together to overcome issues surrounding increasing cruise ship passenger numbers.

This year’s Cruise event is supported by Assoporti, Cruise Europe, the EcoPorts Foundation (EPF), The European Federation of Inland Ports (EFIP), ESPO, the German Shipowners’ Association (Verband Deutscher Reeder, VDR) and MedCruise.

Participants at GreenPort Cruise are also invited to attend the Congress welcome reception at Copenhagen City Hall on the evening of 6 October.

Find out more

Congress delegate places will include the welcome reception, gala dinner and port tour, which will take in both Copenhagen and Malmo Ports, as well as the two-day conference.

This year’s gala dinner, which is open to all Congress delegates, is to be at held at Kosmopol in Copenhagen.

Package rates to attend both events are available with an early bird discount of 20% until 28 August 2015.

More information from www.greenport.com/congress