There are several ways to reduce the fuel consumption of a ship, thereby contributing to reducing air emissions. Ports, in cooperation with ships, play an important role in reducing the ship’s fuel consumption through port call optimisation.

Optimising speed, draught and time in port leads to reduced costs, a cleaner environment, and more reliable and safer shipping. Port call optimisation is not only related to the ‘ship-to-port’ communication but also seeks to improve hinterland connections and ultimately the entire logistical chain.

A longstanding problem in the shipping industry is the complexity of and time involved in submitting reports when arriving in and departing from ports. Ship operators, masters and agents are still burdened with having to fill in paper documents and distribute these to various government authorities, including port, maritime, safety, security, customs, border control and health authorities. This increases costs and causes delays, reducing the competitiveness of maritime transport.

EMSA’s role: port call optimisation

In the EU, work is underway to simplify and harmonise the administrative procedures applied to maritime transport, by making the electronic transmission of information standard and by rationalising reporting formalities, via the European Maritime Single Window.

To achieve this, Member States have developed their own national single windows (NSW) linked to SafeSeaNet, e-Customs and other electronic systems. The national single window aims to simplify the administrative burden by providing a place where all maritime information is reported once by ship data providers, at either national or port level, and made available to all relevant authorities. Certain parts will also be made available to other Member States through SafeSeaNet.