CRUISE
FULL STEAM AHEAD TOWARDS NET ZERO
Source: Port of Helsinki
Andreas Slotte, head of sustainable development, Port of Helsinki, discusses the port’s green agenda with Michele Witthaus
The recent announcement by the Port of Helsinki that it is bringing forward to 2030 its target of reaching net zero for its own carbon emissions by 2035 is part of a range of activities the port is engaging in to improve its overall sustainability. The decision to ramp up existing commitments to reach net zero is focused on the aspects of emissions over which the port has most control. “Our carbon neutrality programme is divided into four parts by emissions source: vessel emissions, emissions from heavy traffic and trucks, stevedoring companies’ equipment, and finally the Port of Helsinki’s own company emissions,” says Mr Slotte. “We as a company will now be carbon neutral by 2030 as our board just approved speeding up the original target by five years. The target year for reaching our vessels emission targets will similarly be brought forward by five years to 2030.” On target The programmes for heavy traffic and equipment in port will remain on track for 2035. The port’s ongoing investment in developing shore power connections is expected to play a significant role in achieving the planned emissions reductions. “Our cruise centre, as is the case with most in Europe, is fairly close to downtown, so emissions are a priority,” says Mr Slotte. As part of its strategy to address the challenges this poses, the port recently achieved Port Environmental Review System (PERS) certification for the first time, along with the Port of Rauma. “We chose to go for PERS as it is the only tailor-made certification for ports,” he says.
20 | SUMMER 2022
8 Planned development of the West Harbour will enable further progress towards the port’s sustainability targets
“PERS offers the best of both worlds as it is built on top of ISO 140001, which we already have, so it wasn’t a huge amount of extra work for us. For ISO 140001, any organisation can apply, which is good as it is possible to compare across industries. The downside is that you can’t take industryspecific questions into account as it’s too general. We knew we were already operating at the level PERS demands, so that made it easy to decide to get the certification to show the rest of the industry what we already knew.” Green focus Provision of onshore power connections for cruise vessels is a major area of focus for the port, which is currently working in a consortium together with the ports of Stockholm, Copenhagen and Aarhus to build shore power facilities for ships. “Bringing shore power to our cruise centre is important for our carbon targets but it is technically challenging for cruise vessels because there’s a high power demand and the season is quite short, especially up here in the north, where there is only a four-month window with many cruise vessels calling,” explains Mr Slotte. “Also, the onshore connections for cruise need a certain degree of mobility that is higher than that needed for liners that call repeatedly at the port. The different cruise vessels don’t have the connection in the same spot on the ship so we can’t make fixed connections – and mobility brings complexity and higher costs.” The planned shore power facilities for cruise ships are still in the planning stage at the port and it is likely to be at least two years until they become a reality. The new developments
For the latest news and analysis go to www.greenport.com/news
