Belgium’s port of Antwerp will grant a discount of up to 30% in port dues to seagoing vessels that use alternative technology to reduce emissions of particulates, starting from June 1, 2015.
For a ship to claim the discount they have to demonstrate that they either make effective use of scrubbers (in closed mode), or are powered by LNG for a period of at least 24 hours before they call at the port of Antwerp.
Ships powered by LNG are to receive a discount of 20%, but those that make use of closed scrubbers can get a discount of 15%. The percentages will be gradually reduced from 2016 in order to reward the ”early adopters” who make the necessary investment this year. The percentages for 2016 are set at 15% and 10% respectively, and for 2017 they will be reduced to 10% and 5% respectively.
The new discount comes in addition to the existing Environmental Ship Index (ESI) discount, which is based on a system of credits ranging from 0 to 100 that ships can earn for having environmental performance better than required by the regulations for NOx, SOx and CO2.
In the ESI package ships that obtain 31 or more credits can have their bill for port dues reduced by 10%. The ESI system is currently supported by 25 ports and so far has benefited more than 3000 ships.
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