The Panama Canal Authority is set to become one of the first governmental entities in the world to charge shipowners a fee for their vessels' greenhouse gas emissions.
Speaking at the AAPA Latino conference in Cartagena, Colombia, on November 30, Panama Canal Administrator Ricaurte Vásquez Morales announced that the authority is going to implement a new "Green Vessel Classification" system, which will include a new "Greenhouse Gas Emissions Fee."
The Canal has long offered a "carrot" incentive for green shipping in the form of a points system, allowing cleaner vessels to progress up the canal's customer rankings more quickly. However, the newly-announced fee appears to go one step further: a GHG charge would create a small financial penalty for the operators of higher-emitting vessels.
"The urgency to take climate action is here, and the industry must take an accelerated approach to mitigate the already adverse effects of climate change. By implementing this fee, the Canal acknowledges the environmental impacts of shipping, as well as those in the industry who are paving the way to minimizing emissions," the authority said in an announcement. "The fee will support investments to guarantee environmental performance standards and aid in making Canal operations carbon neutral."
Under the new scheme, the Canal will classify all ships over 125 feet in length using an energy efficiency ranking. It will incorporate three factors: the ship's EEDI score; operational efficiency measures during transit, such as the use of bow thrusters; and the use of zero-carbon or carbon-neutral fuels. According to the authority, these factors could reduce emissions during a canal transit by 20-100 percent.
The fee amounts have not yet been announced, and the authority says that it is in talks with shipowners about how the new system would work in practice.
The Canal is making its own effort to cut carbon. It plans to buy 10 hybrid-powered tugs for a 20-percent emissions savings on towing operations; invest in a fleet of electric vehicles; and consolidate its facilities, which would produce a 33-percent savings.
