NSW Ports has announced that it is the first Australian port organization to introduce an environmental incentive to apply to vessel-related charges at its facilities.
Levied by NSW Ports at Port Botany and Port Kembla, the initiative will reward higher standards of environmental performance.
NSW Ports will develop the details of the program, with an aim to implement it by January 1, 2019, by consulting the relevant shipping lines.
The incentive is consistent with international approaches at 53 ports globally, including the Port of Rotterdam, Netherlands; the Port of Los Angeles, USA; and the Port of New York and New Jersey, USA.
NSW Ports’ incentives apply to vessels registered with the Environmental Ship Index (ESI).
The ESI is a scoring system that gives a numerical representation of the environmental performance of seagoing ships regarding air pollutants.
It only includes ships that perform over and above current IMO international legislation on emission standards.
The ESI is a project within the World Ports Sustainability Program.
ESI works by evaluating the amount of nitrogen oxide and sulphur oxide that a ship emits and includes a reporting scheme on the greenhouse gas emissions of the ship.
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Port Botany is Australia’s premier container port and has two bulk liquid berths.
Port Kembla is Australia largest vehicle importer and a major exporter of coal and grain.
NSW Ports’ facilities handle a major part of the trade coming into and out of the state of NSW, as well as the Sydney and Illawarra local areas.
Marika Calfas, NSW Ports CEO, said: “NSW Ports has introduced the incentive to reward companies that use vessels with better air emissions performance.
“We are passionate about environmental issues and wanted to take a lead in Australia to help encourage change through an incentive to encourage shipping lines to improve their emissions.
“The environmental incentive will be applied to vessels that perform better in reducing their emissions than the levels required by current emission standards of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO).
“The incentive takes the form of a discount on vessel-related charges levied by NSW Ports on vessels that call at our ports of Port Botany and Port Kembla.
“The introduction of this environmental incentive is aligned with Australia’s commitment towards international climate change initiatives.”
