Ports in Baltic Sea cut emissions with novel maritime traffic system

Two ports in the Baltic Sea have implemented port collaboration solutions to reduce waiting times, fuel consumption and carbon emissions.

Millions of tonnes of cargo are handled annually at the Port of Gävle - the largest logistics hub in northern central Sweden - and Rauma in Finland. 

'EfficientFlow', a project trialled and co-funded by the European Cohesion Policy between 2018 and 2020, has helped all partners involved in the port call process to optimise their resources and reduce waiting times.

"The winners are all the actors in the port, because by knowing the schedules they can plan better and save time and money. And we can save the environment by reducing emissions by up to ten, maybe 20 per cent," Ulf Siwe, the head of 'EfficientFlow', told Euronews.

EfficientFlow led to the creation of the Port Activity App™ which allows approaching cargo ships to update their schedules at a moment's notice.

"All actors in the port will get the information in real-time when the ship is coming. They don't need to make phone calls; they know the information in an app and with that information, they can update their planning," explained Siwe.

The Baltic Sea is one of the world's busiest maritime shipping channels and facilitates annual shipping loads of approximately 750 million tonnes.

The Port of Gävle is expanding, over the last ten years, permits and major investments have facilitated the building of new harbour entrances, warehouses, railways, quays and piers, however, improving energy efficiency as traffic increases has become essential.

The effectiveness of the information-sharing system on the activity app inspired 'Time Slot Gävle', a first-of-its-kind queuing management system with proven potential to reduce fuel consumption.

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