7 minute read
Cruise
FULL STEAM AHEAD TOWARDS NET ZERO
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.
“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
Source: Port of Helsinki 8 Planned
development of the West Harbour will enable further progress towards the port’s sustainability targets
will benefit from what what Mr Slotte describes as ‘dramatic changes to port infrastructure’ that are planned for the Port of Helsinki’s West Harbour, where ship itineraries connect to Tallinn.
“Although these facilities are not related to the cruise business, as they are geographically very nearby it looks as though the best solution will be to make a combined investment in onshore power when developing the West Harbour area, which will be going through massive changes during the next ten years,” he says.
LNG bunkering has already been available in Helsinki for close to ten years, contributing to the reduction in emissions by vessels in port.
Mr Slotte notes: “We were pioneers in LNG bunkering for liner traffic vessels and have all the processes in place to provide truck-to-ship and ship-to-ship bunkering.” The existing infrastructure is available to the growing number of cruise vessels that are equipped to use LNG.
Management of waste generated by cruise ships is another important area of activity for the port. “The amount of food waste from all kinds of cruise vessels is quite big compared to other segments and need to be handled sustainably,” says Mr Slotte.
Waste handling
The port handles both solid waste and food waste, sending trucks to wait for the cruise vessels to offload at agreed times. This process has been refined over the years to make it more efficient, he says.
“In the beginning we had individual trucks, each collecting one type of waste. Then we realised it would be more efficient to have trucks that can take up to four different types of waste, each type sorted in the same truck. We are trying to optimise that process and it works very well.”
Wastewater collection is also at an advanced stage, with close to 100% of wastewater from passenger ships being left in the port. “All modern vessels have these connections and we give them the incentive, making it easy for ships to leave their wastewater,” says Mr Slotte.
At the time of going to press with this article, the port was engaged in a procurement process to appoint a contractor to handle waste disposal from all the vessels visiting Helsinki. For the first time the criteria for this contract will include implementation of emission standards, with those companies tendering for it receiving more points for being able to sustainably manage waste with their equipment.
Mr Slotte says: “We have had a very high standard of waste handling up to now, with a dedicated waste management officer from the port side for five years. This officer goes to visit all the vessels when they come for the first time and goes through our routines and how we would prefer to have waste sorted. These things are quite mundane but they add up – it’s a long list. The vessel operators really enjoy it as it makes things so much easier for them.”
He believes that cruise operators have many opportunities to help the port reach its waste management targets, especially by appointing a waste handling team to make the necessary arrangements when their vessels arrive. They can also benefit financially from taking positive action in this regard. “If a cruise operator is able to show they can minimise waste in more sustainable ways, such as leaving wastewater at our port reception facilities, they can get a 20% rebate for doing so.”
The port is committed to working with its stakeholders and the wider community to promote sustainability on projects and programmes to improve the environmental profile of the city and region. Together with cruise shipping partners, the port has also achieved Visit Finland’s Sustainable Travel Finland certification for its activity in the cruise segment.
“There’s a limited amount of things port can do directly but there is a lot we can do together with customers and stakeholders, which highlights how important cooperation is,” says Mr Slotte. “Waste management and onshore power both need cooperation to be successful, and vessel-side investment is needed too.”
Cooperation with the end user of the cruise industry – the guest – is also crucial, in his opinion. “The person that decides to go on a cruise won’t do it if the cruise doesn’t seem sustainable enough. This is the reason we all are working so hard on these issues, to ensure the continuation of the whole industry.”
He regards working together with other ports to improve sustainability as not only necessary but a natural choice.
“Most of the other ports in the world are not our competitors. You need many ports for the cruise industry to work, with cooperation between ports and sharing plans and targets. This creates a very positive environment and it’s in everyone’s interest that everyone succeeds.”
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8 Cruise ferries
calling at the Port of Helsinki have easy access to the city
8 The Port of The P
