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The number of environment-friendly seagoing ships calling at the port of Antwerp is increasing year after year, according to the results of the Environment Ship Index (ESI), introduced in Antwerp in 2011.

The ESI enables ports to grant a discount on port dues for ships that make a significant contribution to reducing emissions of pollutants such as nitrogen oxide (NOx) and sulphur oxide (SOx). In 2012 there were 462 calls in Antwerp by ships that qualified for the discount. Two years later the number had risen to 501, and during the first nine months of 2015 the port had already granted discounts for 671 calls. The benefits granted for a particular ESI score are decided by each individual port.

Antwerp was one of the group of ports that first introduced the ESI in 2010, along with Le Havre, Rotterdam, Amsterdam and Hamburg. The index, developed as part of the World Port Climate Initiative (WPCI), gives a score for ships that emit fewer pollutants than the legal minimum imposed by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and European Union (EU).

Shipping firms that wish to benefit from the ESI discount are required to submit their details on the website www.environmentalshipindex.org, which is managed by the secretariat of the International Association of Ports and Harbours (IAPH).

The decision to grant discounts in Antwerp was one of the various measures in the port's action plan for particulates and NOx. In Antwerp, a discount of 10 percent is accorded for all calls by ships with a score of 31 or more. The introduction of the measure was one of various initiatives launched by the port of Antwerp to promote sustainable enterprise, as described in the third Sustainability Report published at the end of October this year.

The fifth anniversary of the ESI was celebrated at a meeting in Paris on December 3rd and 4th, coinciding with the climate summit meeting that was held in the French capital at the time.

Annual ship calls

The Port of Antwerp recorded a decline in annual ship calls in 2014, according to data released by the local port authority in January.

The number of sea-going ships calling at Antwerp last year fell by 1.5 percent.

In total, there were 14,009 calls by sea-going ships in 2014.