Five Northern European port authorities announced that they
are joining in partnership with the Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller Center for Zero
Carbon Shipping to lay the foundations for a green corridor serving Northern
Europe and the Baltic. The concept which was presented at COP-26 in Glasgow in
November 2021 calls for cooperation between ports, shipping lines, and others
to incentivize routes that would support the development of net-zero propulsion
technology and the infrastructure required for the transition to green fuels.
The Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller Center for Zero Carbon Shipping
said that it will kickstart this ambitious initiative with the port authorities
of Gdynia, Hamburg, Roenne, Rotterdam, and Tallinn. The project is designed to
demonstrate the early commercialization of alternative fuel supply chains and
provide a roadmap to scaling the supply chains and create a blueprint for
rolling out green corridors in other locations.
“This is a vital step towards accelerating the
decarbonization of the shipping industry and meeting the EU’s 2030 climate
ambitions,” said Bo Cerup-Simonsen, CEO of the center. “Developing green
corridors are instrumental in activating industry first-movers across the value
chain, and this project can be used as industry references to develop blueprints
for new business models and identify the maritime industry’s interdependencies.
We hope this project will also help facilitate the important work with maritime
standards at the EU and IMO.”
To establish the foundation for a new European Green Corridors
Network the partner plan to start pre-feasibility work by identifying the
potential routes, vessel types, and fuels to establish high-impact green
corridors in the region. Once they have completed the first phase, they will
assess the technical, regulatory, and commercial feasibility of the shortlisted
routes moving to implement their vision and establish green corridors in
Northern Europe and the Baltic Sea.
“Until recently, the maritime sector was the only transport
sector in the EU not subject to greenhouse gas emission reduction targets,”
explains Valdo Kalm, CEO of Port of Tallinn. “We must all work together to
reduce CO2 emissions. To achieve maritime sector decarbonization, zero-emission
fuels and vessels must be deployed at scale over the next decade. It is
undoubtedly a difficult task, but it can be aided by the formation of green
corridors in which major ports provide the necessary zero-carbon fuels at the
required scale for bunkering.”
To accelerate the development of viable technologies, the
leaders of the ports agree that a coordinated effort within applied research is
needed across the entire supply chain. They are committed to working with the
center to lead in the fulfillment of the objectives defined at COP-26 and
further advance green corridors. During the conference, Germany and the
Netherlands said they were already working on establishing a green corridor for
inland shipping while each of the ports is pursuing its own green plans. They
look to work together in the new initiative looks to advance the effort to
deep-sea shipping in the region and will look for additional public and private
stakeholders to join the European project as it progresses.
“It’s essential that shipping lines take the initiative to
decarbonize their businesses, and that the ports assist them, for instance by
making sure the right bunker infrastructure and regulations are in place in
time,” said Allard Castelein, CEO of the Port of Rotterdam Authority.
The Northern Europe project follows an announcement of a partnership
of cities, ports, shipping companies, and cargo owners to create the
first-of-its-kind green shipping corridor between Shanghai and Los Angeles. The
project, which includes shipping majors Maersk, CMA CGM, and COSCO Shipping
Lines, calls for a plan by the end of 2022 and beginning the transition to
zero-carbon fueled ships by 2030 for commercial shipping on one of the busiest
ocean shipping routes in the world.