Port of Rotterdam Hails Cleanest Sea-Going Vessel Ever to Call at the Port

The Island Condor is a platform supply vessel built in 2014 owned and operated by Island Offshore, a privately-owned company providing services for the offshore oil industry.

The Port Authority of Rotterdam Friday announced that the cleanest modern ship to ever call on the port, the Island Condor, made a "soundless" call last summer.

The port authority has a policy of issuing premiums to sustainable ships; vessels that are awarded a high score on the Environmental Ship Index (ESI), a rating system for emission of NOx and SOx, are eligible for the premium,

According to the ESI the offshore supply ship Island Condor is "without a doubt" the cleanest sea-going vessel to enter the port of Rotterdam this century.

The Island Condor is a platform supply vessel that was built in 2014 and is owned and operated by Island Offshore Management AS (Island Offshore), a privately-owned company providing services to the oil industry.

The vessel is built to DNV GL Clean Design notation, which indicates reduced emissions to air, and reduced discharges to sea compared to a minimum standard; SCR technology is used to reduce the specific emission of NOx by more than 90 percent.

"The crews on our vessels take pride in operating environmentally friendly. Since 2008 we have seen a reduction of CO2 emission of more than 30% as a direct result of fuel saving initiatives from crew members. Island Offshore, and Island Condor in particular, is honored to be appointed 'most sustainable ship 2015' and take it as an acknowledgement of our continuous effort in reducing our environmental footprint," said Mr. Håvard Ulstein, Managing Director, Island Offshore.

ESI certificates are issued to vessels, at the ship-owners request, by the World Port Climate Initiative.

The Port Authority last year awarded close to EUR 2 million (US $ 2.2 million) in premiums to vessels that score high on the ESI.

Since January 1, 2015 the discount has been doubled if the vessels can also prove their NOx emissions are below a certain threshold. 

In January Ship & Bunker reported that the sales of low sulfur bunkers at the port of Rotterdam had almost tripled in 2015.