ESPO Secretary General, Isabelle Ryckbost, handed over the PERS certificates to the port representatives in a dedicated ceremony in Venice on 12 October.
The ports of Bremen/Bremerhaven (represented by Jochen Kress) and Moerdijk (represented by Ferdinand van den Oever) are long-standing supporters of the EcoPorts tools and approach and are being awarded their PERS certificate for the third and fifth consecutive time respectively. ESPO congratulates the ports for their commitment and achievement. The port of Tangier Med (represented by Fatima Yahya) is the first Moroccan port that achieves PERS certification. ESPO is delighted to see the scheme expanding in the neighbouring countries of Europe and ensuring the application of the same high environmental standards.
“As every year it is a great pleasure, on the occasion of the GreenPort Conference, to give credits to ports achieving high envrionmental recognition to PERS Certification. I hope the achievement of Bremen/Bremerhaven, Moerdijk and Port of Tangier Med will motivate other ports to join the EcoPorts network.” said Antonis Michail, EcoPorts coordinator.
PERS is the only port sector specific environmental management standard. It is the flagship product of the EcoPorts network and is offered as part of the ESPO services to its members through the EcoPorts website. Compliance with the PERS standard is independently assessed by Lloyd’s Register Quality Assurance and the certificate has a validity of 2 years. There are 25 ports in Europe and its neighbouring countries currently certified by PERS. ESPO encourages all ports within its membership to implement the scheme and to get certified.”