Port Activity App offers new tools to support the achievement of maritime emissions targets

One of the key objectives of the maritime sector is to reduce maritime emissions. The Port Activity App, which has been developed to boost the efficiency of maritime logistics, now also has an emissions calculation function, which helps ports and maritime operators to achieve their sustainable development goals. The function is part of the app’s expanding responsibility resources, which also include a waste receipt system for waste left at ports, berth planning and Just-in-Time planning systems for incoming ships.

The Port Activity App helps maritime logistics operators and ports to become more efficient through real-time vessel and port information. New tools supporting more ecological operating methods are now also available to ports for measuring and monitoring emissions.

“Through its Polo extension, the Port Activity App offers Finnish ports a new tool, which they can use to calculate vessel emissions in port water areas. The recently released emissions calculation tool is available to all Finnish ports using the Port Activity App and it can be put into immediate use. The emissions calculation function works on a berth-specific basis and because it is scalable, such features as a vessel’s calculated emissions between ports or specific land operations can be included in the function,” explains Olli Soininen, Programme Manager at Fintraffic’s Vessel Traffic Services.

The vessel emissions calculation function developed in cooperation with the technology house Unikie and Envare Solutions Oy, a specialist in emissions calculation and energy efficiency, includes piloting in the fairway, port transfers and the berth time. The calculation starts when the ship enters the port’s waters and ends when the ship leaves the port. The emissions calculation function covers nine different emission categories and complies with international standards.

Finland has pledged to achieve the emissions reduction targets set by the EU and the maritime emissions reduction targets set by the International Maritime Organization (IMO). The EU aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 55% by 2030 (from 1990 levels) and to be climate neutral by 2050. Under the IMO’s preliminary greenhouse gas strategy, average CO2 emissions caused by transport performance should be reduced by 40% by 2030, after which a 70% reduction should be achieved by 2050 (from 2008 levels). The aim is also to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from international maritime transport by at least 50% by 2050 (from 2008 levels). At the same time, efforts will also be made to phase out emissions so that the CO2 emissions reductions would correspond to the temperature targets set out in the Paris Agreement.

The Port Activity App is part of Fintraffic’s maritime traffic management ecosystem work, in which the exchange of data between shipping and its logistics chains and the construction of a situation picture is promoted through close cooperation between maritime actors and the use of new digital solutions. The Port Activity App collects information relevant to all port operators under one application from many different systems. Port Activity is an open source app, which means that ports can customise it to meet their own needs.