Europe steps up

Europe has recently seen several initiatives that offer positives to the ports sector.

The Clean Industrial Deal, launched by the European Commission as a new flagship project at the end of February, in the words of the Commission, “outlines concrete actions to turn decarbonisation into a driver of growth for European industries. This targets: lowering energy prices; creating quality jobs and the right conditions for companies to thrive.” Essentially it sets out a plan to achieve two key goals: decarbonisation and boosting competitiveness.

The ports sector, and notably the European Sea Ports Organisation (ESPO), has welcomed the initiative and specifically: “the Commissions intentions to intensify efforts to ease permitting procedures in Europe; the willingness to look into a more pragmatic approach to the definition of low carbon hydrogen, the proposal to identify and focus on industrial clusters, the initiatives regarding the circular economy, and the plans to lower energy prices.” ESPO acknowledges and supports the Commission’s understanding that the demand side needs to be boosted in order to build the business case for decarbonised products. It underlines: “Ports share the view that there must be a market in order to successfully attract investors.

“We see in the Clean Industrial Deal launched today a lot of the understanding of the challenges to combine decarbonisation and competitiveness in Europe, says Isabelle Rycbost, Secretary General, ESPO. It is “a good first step,” she emphasises, “but a lot will depend on its implementation.”

ESPO’s views complement those of the European Community Shipowners’ Association (ECSA) which has previously stated: “The European Maritime Industrial Strategy must be a core pillar of the upcoming Clean Industrial Deal.”

Specifically, ECSA cites five key objectives which it sees as offering great potential to enhance the competitiveness of European shipping “and of the maritime industrial cluster while delivering on the green and digital transition.” These are featured in Table 1.

Table 1: ECSA Action Areas to Maximise the Competitiveness of European Shipping

Source: ECSA

ENVIRONMENTAL REPORT

The ESPO Environmental Report 2024 released at the GreenPort Congress, held in Le Havre in October 2024, similarly went into some detail regarding priorities for the sector. In its Top 10 ranking of environmental priorities coping with climate change was ranked No 1, energy efficiency moved into second position and air quality third.

Out of the 83 ports located in 21 countries from which data was collected 64% of ports reported climate-related operational challenges, a significant step-up from the 47% last year.

It is also interesting to note that an increasing number of ports are obtaining certification under the Port Environmental Review System (PERS), the only environmental management standard specifically designed for ports by ports. ESPO reports: “the percentage of ports with an Environmental Policy, an inventory of relevant environmental legislation, and defined objectives for environmental improvement has reached an unprecedented 98%.”

PLUS MORE SANCTIONS

Also, among the recent stream of new measures announced by Europe is its 16^th Russia sanctions package which targets 74 additional vessels, making a total of 153.

The package also targets those who support the operations of unsafe tankers including terminals in the ports of Ust Luga, Primorsk and Novorossiysk.

The UK has also acted in concert with Europe launching what it describes as the largest sanctions package since 2022. This covers 40 shadow fleet vessels bringing the total number of tankers sanctioned by the UK to 133, the highest of any nation in Europe.