Ship emissions portal to aid ports

The Environmental Ship Index (ESI) portal asks ports to lay out their incentives for ships with lower air emissions, while asking ship owners for their existing classification certificates and fuel receipts for the vessels they wish to register.

The formulae embedded into the site rates ships on a scale of 1 to 100, with the idea that the ships with lower emissions – ahead of IMO standards – will gain financial incentives. It has been put together under the auspices of the World Ports Climate Initiative and the International Association of Ports and Harbors, through the co-operation of half a dozen ports: Hamburg, Bremen, Rotterdam, Amsterdam, Antwerp, and Le Havre.

However, the aim is to make it a voluntary, global initiative. Fer van de Laar, who is to act as administrator of the new site, said that he has already been in contact with a number of ports around the world who have shown an interest.

“We have based [the system] on the IMO standards and information that the ship’s owner or manager will have already: the ESI certificate will last for six months and at the end of this we will invite the ship to reapply,” explained Mr van de Laar.

Further, because of its simplicity, the formula will evolve along with changes in the IMO regulations, so a gentle rise in standards will result rather than something set in stone. This favours ship owners who should be looking at putting in a newer generation of engines ahead of the IMO standards.