DUNKERQUE PORT: June 07, 2019. Marking European Sustainability Week, Dunkerque-Port has launched an environmental reward system for low-emission vessels calling at the port.

Dunkerque has joined forces with the Environmental Ship Index initiative (ESI) initiated by the International Association of Ports and Harbours (IAPH), to assign a score to ships based on their emissions. The higher the ship's rating, the cleaner its air quality.

Companies and charterers that call at Dunkerque are invited to join the initiative by signing a charter to use more efficient, low-emission vessels for their port calls in return for a financial reward at the end of each year.

The payment is calculated on the basis of the number of clean port calls made by the company or the charterer, in proportion to the total number of clean port calls recorded in the port over one year. Dunkerque is one of 50 ports to sign up to the initiative.

In a related move, operator Nord Port Shuttle has launched the Flandres Express (FLEX) weekly rail service from Dunkerque to the inland port of Metz timed with various regular shipping lines calling at Dunkerque, including the Ocean Alliance Asia service.

Stéphane Raison, president of the Executive Board of Dunkerque-Port commented: “With this shuttle, NPS will offer a differentiated service, likely to create new opportunities for modal shifts in the heart of a very dense economic region. The launch of this service at the same time as the European Sustainable Development Week is obviously a strong signal of our port's commitment to high-volume transport."

President of Nord Ports Shuttle Ferenc Szilagyi added: "The new service between Dunkerque and Metz is a real alternative for Lorraine's market participants; a simplified, civic, environmentally-responsible solution. We haven't launched the service during sustainable development week for nothing.”