Port of Sohar joins Green Award certification initiative

The Port of Sohar has become the first port in the Middle East to enter the Green Award scheme — a certification system that encourages ships and ship-owners to embrace environment-friendly operational and management practices.

The scheme is supervised by the Rotterdam-based Bureau Green Award, the executive body of the autonomous, non-profit Green Award Foundation. The certification procedure consists of an office audit of each individual ship applying for certification. Green Award certified ships receive a significant reduction in port dues that are part of the scheme. Currently, 221 ships are Green Award certified. At present, only crude oil and product tankers, as well as dry bulk carriers of over 20,000 DWT, have applied for the certification. Plans are afoot to broaden the scope of the scheme to also include container ships and LNG carriers in the future, a senior representative of the Green Award Foundation stated here yesterday. As a Green Award partner, the Port of Sohar joins 30 ports and harbours around the world that support this initiative.

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