CMP reaffirms its dedication to sustainable maritime operations ahead of 2025

As the year 2024 draws to a close, Copenhagen Malmö Port (CMP) has reinforced its commitment to sustainable maritime operations through initiatives aimed at reducing the environmental impact and enhancing port efficiency.

At the end of November this year, the port revealed that, from January 1, 2025, it would push its sustainability endeavors another step forward by introducing environmental discounts for all ship categories at its ports.

As disclosed, the discounts would be based on the Environmental Ship Index (ESI)—managed by the International Association of Ports and Harbors (IAPH)—which tracks the environmental and climate impact of vessels based on an array of parameters, such as nitrogen oxide (NOx) and sulfur oxide (SOx) emissions, noise issues, voluntary carbon dioxide (CO2) reporting, and the ability to use onshore power supply (OPS).

According to the port, presently, there are over 6,700 ships and 65 ports worldwide—of which some 40 are in Europe—that use ESI as the basis for environmental differential incentives. The ports are the ones that choose the point level from which they want to provide a discount, CMP further elaborated, but ESI must approve the incentives.

CMP’s ESI discount will reportedly amount to 5% of the ship due. Moreover, it is set to be provided to all categories of vessels calling in Copenhagen, Malmö and Visby that have attained 80 points or more according to the index’s requirements.

Shedding more light on this development, Ulrika Prytz Rugfelt, Chief Communications & Sustainability Officer, CMP, further underscored that choosing ESI was based on the fact that this system looks at “the whole picture”.

“The more measures ships take to reduce their environmental impact, the higher their score in the ESI system. Therefore, in order to motivate the vessels to be ambitious in their environmental work, CMP has chosen to provide a discount to the vessels that receive high ESI points,” she stated.

Driving its eco-friendly initiatives forward, Copenhagen Malmö Port recently also conducted a “comprehensive” study, together with partners Force Technology, DanPilot, By & Havn, and the Danish Maritime Authority, to assess the conditions needed for the safe arrival and departure of boxships at the new Ydre Nordhavn container terminal.

The port said that the new container terminal is anticipated to be put into operation in Q2 2025, offering a shorter entry route and continued fossil-free operations.

Concerning its momentum to go fossil-free, CPM decided to gradually shift to hydrogenated vegetable oil (HVO100) for its machines at its existing container terminal from November 2023. Back then, container terminals in Hamburg, Germany, made the same pledge.

CPM shared that this move could help it slash fossil diesel consumption by approximately 60,000 liters per year—an equivalent of about 130 tonnes of CO2 annually.

Once Ydre Nordhavn is operational, CMP accentuated that it could be able to do away with all fossil fuels at all terminals in 2025.

As for the recent joint study, the port said that it was conducted at Force Technology’s full-mission simulator in Lyngby. It reportedly involved a broad range of ‘realistic’ sailing simulations with versatile types of containerships that varied in size, maneuverability, and equipment.

The CMP explained that the exercises were done under different loading conditions, wind and current directions as well as strengths to test the operational boundaries for units maneuvering to and from the quay.

What is more, the simulation models are said to have included a completed representation of Lynetteholm, an artificial island project in Copenhagen that aims to create a sustainable urban development area while also serving as a barrier to protect the city from rising sea levels and storm surges.

It is understood that two approach routes to the terminal were tested, with a focus on the shallow area just 150 meters north of the quay, where the water depth is only 10 meters, thus limiting vessels’ maneuverability.

Another ‘key’ effort within the exercise was evaluating the need for fairway markings at ‘crucial’ points along the approach to and from the terminal, intending to provide ‘clear’ guidance for ships in all wind and current conditions, CMP spotlighted.

From a broader perspective, regarding other collaborative endeavors, CMP teamed up with Green2x, a company involved in the large-scale production of biomethane and green fuels, back in May this year with the goal of designing, establishing and operating one of the world’s largest biofuel plants to date at CMP’s terminals in the port of Malmö, Sweden.

More recently, the Swedish Energy Agency (Energimyndigheten) granted SEK 5.3 million (about $484,003) to Malmö CO2 Hub, a collaboration between several industrial and energy companies, including CMP E.ON, Nordion Energi, Sysav and Uniper, with the support of Växjö Energi and Öresundskraft.

The financial support is set to be used to create an in-depth feasibility study for a common carbon infrastructure in southern Sweden, including transportation and final geological storage.