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A view of the North Sea Port of Ghent , Source: North Sea Port

Ports of Ghent and Gothenburg to establish green shipping corridor by 2025

Ports of Ghent and Gothenburg to establish green shipping corridor by 2025

Belgium and Sweden committed to promoting green shipping during COP26 and are now delivering on those pledges

This week, authorities at the North Sea Port of Ghent, Belgium, announced plans to launch a green corridor with the port of Gothenburg, Sweden. According to the definitions adopted by COP26, a green corridor for shipping means that the route between the two ports will be served by green marine transport operations.

Valuable shipping route in the North Sea

The corridor between the two ports is planned to launch in 2025 after port authorities make the necessary infrastructure adaptations to enable 100% green maritime shipping on the route. This development could be a game changer for the North Sea trade.

This is because the Gothenburg-Ghent route has grown to be one of the most important ones in the region since the early ‘90s. Elvir Dzanic CEO of the Gothenburg Port Authority was quoted in an official statement, saying that it is at the heart of the trade between Scandinavia and Central Europe.

Daan Schalck CEO of North Sea Port explained that the adaptations at the North Sea Port in Belgium, for instance, include lowered port dues for green vessels and creating an alternative value chain for local green fuel producers linked with the port.

COP26 pledges bearing fruit

During last year’s COP26 climate summit Sweden, Belgium and 30 other countries signed the Clydebank Declaration. It calls for the creation of green shipping corridors, also defining the term. Moreover, the declaration commits the signatories to promote the expansion of green shipping practices.

Vincent Van Quickenborne, Belgian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the North Sea, who personally signed the declaration pointed out that Belgium now has the chance to take a pioneering role in the emerging sector and achieve substantial CO2 reductions in shipping.

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