The World Ocean Council (WOC) has convened the key green and sustainable shipping programs at several of the annual WOC Sustainable Ocean Summit (SOS) events in order to foster and facilitate communication among the programs and stimulate coordination, if not synergies.
To build on this and increase international collaboration supporting improved environmental performance in shipping, Vancouver Fraser Port Authority is now working with the maritime industry, a group of international ports, governments and NGOs to make it easier for:
- Marine carriers to take advantage of port-based financial incentives
- Ports to offer incentives to environmentally-friendly vessels
- Other industry stakeholders to become involved adding further value
WOC supports the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority efforts on this and encourages marine carriers and related associations, ports and related associations/governments and other stakeholders to participate in a survey to contribute to this development. The surveys are available online at https://porttalk.ca/Ship-incentive-collaboration.
More than 50 ports offer or participate in incentive programs for vessels to go beyond basic compliance in addressing priorities e.g. air emissions, underwater noise, creating a patchwork that is increasingly difficult for marine carriers to make sense of and take advantage of.
The port’s initial research suggests that this situation would be well served by a web-based portal for marine carriers, ports and other stakeholders to access information on the incentive programs and environmental infrastructure.
Such a portal could, for example, include:
• An incentive calculator: For shipping lines to enter a route and high level environmental data (e.g. final scores in third party rating systems) and assess potential cumulative incentives available at the ports on a route.
• An incentive application portal: For ports to access information entered centrally by shipping lines, to simplify or automate the application and administration process for discounts.
• An information management system: To raise awareness and facilitate coordination and management of information related to incentive programs.
The proposed portal would make it easier to learn about, participate in and offer incentives on a global scale, facilitate tracking of cumulative benefits and foster partnerships and identification of synergies, adding additional value. The portal would not replace incentive programs or third party rating systems or seek to make incentive programs mandatory or harmonize criteria for incentives.