IAPH Environmental Ship Index to include new module of ships at berth
IAPH announced that the process to build a new module for the IAPH Environmental Ship Index (ESI) had commenced. The new module will focus on the environmental performance of ships at berth for each port call. An online kick-off meeting by the project team was held on Monday 21 February.
The module will initially focus on cruise shipping and will be funded by contributions from major cruise ports and IAPH. It will develop in two phases, starting with the reporting model, followed by the development of an at-berth performance- and emissions indicator. A core working group of ports, representatives from the cruise industry and the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA), and the website building company Nalta, has been established to accompany the development phases.
The project is led by the Port of Los Angeles and the Port of Amsterdam, being supported by IAPH and Green Award Foundation, which manages the ESI operation, and Starcrest. The aim is to have the at berth module in full operation by the beginning of 2023.
IAPH Managing Director Patrick Verhoeven commented: “The ESI At-Berth module will bring ESI to the next level by also assessing and rewarding actual performance related to each port call. This will feed port emission inventories and will trigger further emissions reduction through the voluntary application of incentives by the ESI ports. Starting with cruise vessels as a pilot for a two-year period, the at-berth module is then expected to expand to other types of traffic subject to positive evaluation.”
The ESI was established in 2011 and it identifies seagoing ships that perform better than required by the current emission standards of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) related to air emissions. With 6,908 vessels registered, ESI is an automated, maintainable environmental performance system for ships which potentially results in lower port dues or fees for vessels calling at ports registered as an ESI-incentive provider.
ESI-air scores vessels on their NOx and SOx performance, rewarding reporting and improvements over time of energy efficiency. Vessels are also rewarded for being equipped with onshore power supply.
On a separate module, ESI-noise also scores reduced noise of vessels, directly and proportionally and calculates a fixed bonus for a noise reduction measurement report.
The scores for the ships enrolled in the IAPH Environmental Ship Index (ESI) for the quarter starting 1 January 2022 have been recently released. Compared to the previous quarter, the number of ships with a score of 20 or more in the database increased from 4,684 to 4,731 and the number of incentive providers led mainly by ports around the world rose from 60 to 61.