Environmental Port Index – 2019 Experiences & Learnings

May 23

As we make our way through the chaos of 2020, we have taken a moment to reflect on what the year of 2019 meant for the development of the Environmental Port Index.

Below are some key insights into the processes and learnings behind our experiences last year.

The EPI trial and rollout

In the run up to spring 2019, we conducted a comprehensive year-long pilot test. This involved both ports and several large cruise operators, with the goal of ensuring that:

the task of recording data is intuitive and effortless to use for a ship’s crew
both the EPI Ship Owner Report and EPI Port Operator Report are easy to interpret
the EPI Score is unbiased and accurately reflects each ship’s efforts to reduce emissions

After promising outcomes across these key trial areas, the EPI web solution began its official rollout in the spring of 2019.

A welcome arrival, onboard and into port

As the Environmental Port Index rollout began, three Norwegian cruise ports adopted the solution from the outset: Bergen, Trondheim and Stavanger, with a total of 545 port stays recorded via the EPI Portal, and reports generated, throughout the 2019 season. Towards the end of the year, four more ports joined the EPI Port Registry (to be followed by another nine ports in early 2020).

Both ship owners and port operators alike welcomed the implementation of the EPI, as efforts to reduce emissions could finally be recorded, verified, and rewarded. Users found the EPI easy to use, with the portal dashboard being especially useful by providing a clear overview of important metrics such as total emissions and fuel consumption.

“Since its launch, TUI Cruises are active users of the system. The EPI rewards our onboard investments in green technologies by evaluating and quantifying our good environmental performance in ports.”

– Victoria Müller, TUI Cruises