CRUISE
SHORE POWER AND MORE FOR KIEL
Photo: Port of Kiel
Michele Witthaus talks to Port of Kiel managing director, Dr Dirk Claus, about the measures it is taking to ensure a sustainable future for cruise
As cruise traffic resumes following the interruptions caused by Covid-19, the Port of Kiel expects sea tourism in Northern Europe to go back to normal in the near future. For the port, this means a return to the buoyant call figures and growth rates of pre-pandemic times, with more than 200 cruise calls planned for next year. “When the current passenger capacity limits are lifted, more than 1 million cruise shipping passengers will board and debark cruise ships in Kiel,” says Dr Claus. Returning to normal cruise activity does not mean ‘business as usual’, however. The port is on a trajectory of significant investment to ensure that its longstanding commitment to sustainability forms a key part of the recovery. “The protection of our climate is a challenge of our time and the Port of Kiel is one of the most environment-friendly ports in Europe,” says Dr Claus. “As per our three-step-plan we will supply 60% of all our ferry and cruise ship calls with green shore power during their berthing times, thus reducing their emissions to zero. The second step will be that as of 2025 we will supply green shore power to 80 or 90% [of vessels]. The third step will then be that the Port of Kiel will become totally climate neutral by 2030.” This ambitious plan is backed up by actions on many other fronts, he says. “To reduce the emissions of CO2, we have been only consuming green power that stems from regenerative sources for the operation of all our terminal facilities for some
8 The port is on a trajectory of significant investment to ensure that its longstanding commitment to sustainability forms a key part of the recovery
time. We put great emphasis on electric mobility and are renewing our vehicle fleet in that sense successively. This applies to both cars and forklift trucks as well as tugmasters in future.” “In addition, we are also reducing our energy consumption of our port facilities and have equipped roofs of our warehouses as well as terminal gangways with photovoltaics where possible. This allows us to cover part of our power consumption by ourselves.”
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The port is on a trajectory of significant investment to ensure that its longstanding commitment to sustainability forms a key part of the recovery Greener power Additional components of the port’s measures for climate protection include the shifting of incoming and outgoing freight traffic from road to rail, as well as offering shore power to ferry and cruise ships. The latter activity is helping the port to take a leading role in implementing this technology. Its new shore power solution, ShoreCONNECT, is already actively improving the environment and bringing significant changes to the way cruise operators can use the port. “The
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