Clean shipping ahoy!

Port and cargo owners commit to clean shipping

Clean transport in 2030. That is our mission. And by that with clean transport we don’t just mean road transport. PitPoint is also focused on innovative cooperation with stakeholders to realise clean shipping. We believe reduced ships emission are an important step towards reducing air pollution in port cities. Therefore, we are very pleased to share two current events in this field that will pave the way for clean shipping in Europe.

Shipping is a major source of local air pollution and responsible for more than 2-3% global CO2 emissions. While the public and private sector have been working for years to reduce the CO2 emissions of road transport, there are hardly any similar attempts to achieve clean shipping.  This is remarkable. Especially because- according to the NGO Transport & Environment- fuel for ships is 2,700 times dirtier than diesel for road traffic. Yet Europe will pay an annual 35 billion for road transport, while ships sail on tax-free fuel.

With this in mind, we celebrate the support that ports and cargo owners have shown for the proposal of the European Parliament Environmental Committee to include shipping emissions in the EU Emissions trading System (ETS) in 2023. Last month the European Parliament plenary voted decisively in favour of this proposal.

This is an important milestone towards achieving clean shipping. If EU governments accept the proposal, it would be the first time in the world that ship emissions are regulated.

We believe that port and cargo owners are making the right choice to support the inclusion of shipping emissions in the ETS. With their support, ports show that they are willing to take their responsibility for sustainability and the environment in port cities.  On their turn, cargo owners prove that they’re serious about meeting the growing demand for sustainable products. This resonates with PitPoint’s port vision in which we envisage that sustainability in the logistic chain will increasingly become a competitive advantage for ports.

Furthermore, we’re excited to announce that ferry the Texelstroom is nominated for the ship of the year award. The Texelstroom is the first European ferry that will sail on the clean fuel CNG. This ferry operates in an environmentally sensitive area and is fuelled by CNG in a dual-fuel arrangement. It has 700m² of solar panels connected directly to its switchboard and batteries that are charged overnight. PitPoint has been responsible for the engineering, construction and exploitation of the CNG station at the Island Texel. The nomination for ship of the year shows the growing awareness of the importance of clean shipping.

The award is part of the European Marine Engineering Conference Awards, 2017. Winning this award would be a great recognition of the importance of clean shippping and clean ports. We would appreciate if you supported the Texelstoom! You can cast your vote here.