On the 25th and 26th of June, the Corfu Port Authority organized the 2nd Annual Conference of the SuPorts project. More than 50 ports managers and experts attended the 2 working days which did more than assessing the current achievements of the project but enabled to get new experiences, to review the evolving European legislation as well as discussing environmental management systems as well as port certifications (PERS, EMAS, ISO 14001).

Below, you can download documents in relation with this SuPorts event.

Find first here the Agenda. Then you will find for each day, all presentations per session delivered during this 2 days' conference. You can also directly read the reported conclusions of these 2 days content.

Day 1

Session 1 : Policy Elements

Session 2 : Case studies

Day 2

Session 1 : Application of EPF environmental management tools.

Session 2 : Emas, iso 14001, PeRs and other Port environmental
management systems. Pros, Cons and Differences regarding Local Ports

On the 13/11/2012 a local workshop in Himara took place. Saranda Port invited people from Vlore Port as well as local people to participate in the workshop aiming at transferring knowledge on environmental management all port are trying to establish.

Sustainability is the capacity to endure. In ecology, the word describes how biological systems remain diverse and productive over time. Long-lived and healthy seaways and atmosphere are examples of sustainable biological systems. To this extent,all project partners are committed to reduce air pollution, greenhouse gases, conserve energy and water resources through their activities taking into account the most significant environmental convention of MARPOL73/78. Their support includes conducting water and air quality measurements and land use planning, providing recreational opportunities, preserving open space and wildlife.All actions to be made in the project, beginning from the adoption of common practices and approaches (WP3), the certified environmental management system and the actions taken and supplies made to reach this (WP4),the after life communication plan and activities such as the Environmental Information Centre (WP6), WebSite (WP2) and Environmental Information System (WP5) show partners committment to creating a sustainable project and ensure mid-/long term stability of results.It worths also mentioning that the project is planned to have a long life duration.Thus,both partners will try to reassure its after-life implementation by 1)daily operating the Environmental Information System, renewing the content, 2)constantly operating the Website together with the Environmental Information System, 3)enriching its content, updating legislation,uploading studies and best practices,keeping up with exchanging knowledge via the forum/mail/etc, 4)trying to get real-time environmental measurements through the installation of the respective equipment 5)yearly renewing of EMAS registration and Environmental Management practices, 6)expanding water flow meter network, either with own funds or with raising EU funds from other ERDF programs.

LP1 is the main port of Kerkira's Island and it is among the ports of international importance,with special emphasis on strengthening  the development of tourism and commerce in the island of Corfu. LP1 in addition to its passenger and commercial operation, has a very important tourist operation. Also serves the ship lines between–Corfu-Italy and Corfu–Saranda. The dynamic development of the Port of Corfu is closely related to the future development tendencies of the wider area.The Port of Corfu SA is the operator of all port activities and was established in 27/6/2001. It has a total of 10 staff.The organizational structure consists of:Board-President, Managing Director , Manager,Managing Board.The Areas of responsibility consists of the following Departments:Services and Development,Technical Services, Administrative and Financial Servicesand the Offices of Legal Advisor and Internal Auditor.

The Port of Saranda (LP2) is the main port of South East Albania  and operates  as passenger and commercial port.There is a 60 square meters  ships dock for ships and  hydrofoils  coming from Corfu. The  depth of the sea at this point is  3.5 m.  The cruise ships now “anchoring” at the open  sea.During the summer except  the regular line and there are additional daily cruises from Corfu to Saranda  carrying out tourists (up to 500 daily).  The port Terminal at Saranda is a total of 130 square meters, divided into 2 levels. At the lower level, there is the customs-passport control, while at the upper level  is the lobby and the entrance to the terminal.There is no elevator for the handicapped  and elderly passengers.The total staff consists of 47 persons, of which 15 are Office staff, 12 are Security staff and   20 are workers.The EXPANSION PLANS related on the creation of a new 120m expansion of the ship dock and the depth will become 9m.

The new Port of Igoumenitsa was inaugurated on September 19th 2003. It’s located in the southern side of the ground marine belt, outside the city’s urban area, near the village Ladochori. It occupies a total area of 21 hectares from which 13 hectares are harbor area, while 8 hectares have been given for road construction, parking spaces for private cars and trucks, refuelling stations etc. The new Port provides 5 mooring spaces for Ro-Ro ships, of international ferry routes, twelve piers with the ability of simultaneous mooring up to 7 ships with adequate ground space.

As concerns partners experience, it worths mentioning that LP1 and P3 have taken part in several EU programs either on the IPA Adriatic GR-IT, FP7, MED and TEN (Trans European Network).These are α) APC – THE ADRIATIC PORT COMMUNITY,b) FAROS – FOR ADVANCEMENT RESOURCING AND ORGANIZATION OF SEAFARERS,γ) GAIA – GENERALIZED AUTOMATIC EXCHANGE OF PORT INFORMATION AREA d)NETLAM – NETWORK OF THE LOWER ADRIATIC MARINAS e)PELAGOS f)SECINS showing capacity in managing such projects.LP2 has no experience in EU funded programs and is for the first time taking part in EU funded projects.

The steps to be applied during the project are:

• The recording of the current situation concerning the activities of the ports of Corfu, Igoumenitsa and Sarande,
• The adoption of common environmental practices,
• Control, monitoring and management of solid - liquid waste and air emissions-noise in port area,
• Energy management and monitoring and control of natural resources in port facilities,
• Improve efficient energy consumption sytems,
• Implementation, installation of common environmental management system and EMAS registration,
• The design and develop environmental management information system
• The Centre for Environmental Information and Education.

The methodology of the project will initially start with project meetings that will help in reporting the current environmental situation, risk analysis of the area and waste of natural resources. Then,the partners will come to the conclusion with adopting common environmental practices,to help protect the environment and prevent waste of natural resources of the cross -broader border region. After having formed joint approaches in dealing with common or not environmental problems, necessary actions before obtaining the EMS (or related) and its certification should take place. Such necessary actions are the equipment supplies (fire engines, depollution float dam, water flow meters etc),the external expert hire for making environmental measurements, planting, painting & marine road works etc. All previous activities, will on one hand, effectively support the requirements for EMAS (or related) certification and registration, for the ports of Saranda and Igoumenitsa and on the other hand help ports to take all necessary preventive actions for improving environmental performance.The information system will be used as a joint platform for intra-port monitoring, control and management of environmental indicators for each port providing an electronic data logger as well as a preventive & precautional role.The information system will also be available through the website-forum through authorized access covering the environmental effects of ports and communication of environmental policies. The Project management, progress of the meetings, staff training, publicity and awareness supports all the steps for implementing the project as valuable tools. The Environmental Information and Education Centre helps to highlight the environmental actions of the three partners, the communication of environmental policies and practices in a practical way and educate the population (schools, residents from wider border area) to sound environmental practices.

It is evident that each port needs to tackle different problems, issues and challenges or opportunities for development due to differences in size, location in the border region of Greece and Albania. Environmental impacts from port activities are also in strict relation with location, size, infrastructure needs and management loads. During the project preparation phase, extensive discussions among the partners, revealed the variety of environmental issues and problems, and also the significant impact each port has on the local community and the wider region.

More specifically, the environmental problems/threats that very often arise as a result of maritime activities at the ports of Corfu, Igoumenitsa & Saranda are: noise generated by the operation of machinery and vehicles; dust produced primarily in the areas of handling bulk; gaseous pollutants (from vehicles, machinery, ships);degradation of water quality and marine ecosystems around the port due to reduced renewal of water between the piers; pollution from loading and unloading of bulk cargo; leaching of the platforms with the rain;leakages of oil spills from ships; pollution of soil and underlying groundwater caused by the infiltration of hazardous substances; management of hazardous cargos; hygiene and safety of staff and visitors; overconsumption of energy and natural resources (eg water, oil and others), etc. On the other hand, the increase in tourism and commercial or maritime activity in all ports of the area presents new opportunities and challenges as regards economic development, promotion of local communities and populations. One such example is the rapid increase in cruises planned to double the number of ships and passenger arrivals in the related ports in the next few years. However, the increase in tourism  as well as maritime and commercial activity in each port creates not onlyopportunities but also obligations for the ports. It’s worth mentioning that cruise passengers arriving at Corfu amount to 600.000 per year,visitors from/to Corfu arriving at/from Igoumenitsa amount to 800.000 per year, and visitors to/from Corfu arriving at/from Sarande amount to 50.000 per year.

The number of passengers departing from or arriving at any of the three ports (Corfu,Igoumenitsa,Saranda) to/from other destinations is equally large.This growth, has led to the design and implementation of large-scale projects (completed or still in progress) aimed to improve the infrastructure:extension of the wharf and dredging the bottom at the port of Saranda,and of the renovation of infrastructure facilities and construction of a new port at Igoumenitsa,etc.The cooperation of the three ports highlights the important and unique opportunity to transfer knowledge, experiences and practices in environmental management and thereby improve the living quality in the cross-border area.

The project leader has ensured timely commencement of the project by holding 2 kickoff meetings in Corfu (16/7/12 & 27/9/12).During the 2 meetings,the objectives and targets of ELPORTAL were discussed and LP1 detailed the role and benefits of each port.The overall structure of the joint management team of the project was outlined and agreed and a detailed work plan was prepared by P3 setting out the tasks to be undertaken as part of the project, the role of the project partners in their implementation and the project budget.As for the WP1 each partner has appointed a management team responsible for monitoring the implementation of the actions of each work package, collaborating with Overall Project Manager in order to assure the quality of work.Moreover, LP1 appointed (October 2012) a Project Manager who has the operational responsibility for the coordination of the sound implementation of the project (D.1.2.2).LP2 signed the contract with the Audit firm appointed for the expenditure verification reports for the Albanian partner (D.1.2.4).

Each partner has made an exhaustive research as regards the specifications of the website (WP2) and the study assessment of Environmental Aspects & Impacts (WP3).More in WP2 the potential programme for a one-day genuinely interactive Workshop (D.2.3.1) on Environmental Management Systems with participation encouraged and decided by all delegates.There was detailed discussion on the date and format of the Corfu-based Workshop and it was suggested that mid/late December would be preferable given the activity profile to optimize impact and attraction of the WS.LP1 has signed the contract for the Website-Forum (D.2.1.1) and the design-preparation of the Newsletters (D.2.1.3).The website is now under construction.However, the project web address is the following www.elportal.eu and Project Logo has been designed and delivered. LP2’s and P3’s project teams are collecting their port material and national and European environmental laws and directives to be provided to the website.

The Albanian content deployment will be available after the contracts D.2.1.2-Website Translation and D.5.1.4-(Translation of Key Environmental legislation in Albanian) have been delivered. The above mentioned contracts are now pending and LP2,P3 project teams are working on the technical specifications and tender preparation.During the meetings and in respect to the WP3 and WP4, common environmental problems have been approached and identified. Partners exchanged experience on a)port profile,port operations and marine traffic,b)environmental issues such as port waste management, dredging and dredging disposal,dust,noise,air quality,hazardous cargo,port development, which is related to land use, ship discharge policies,c)applicable laws and practices d)environmental management systems and related monitoring. LP1,P3 analyzed specifications with regards to study of Environmental Aspects.

The work plan set up during the kick off meetings has identified the next key tasks to be taken for project implementation. Joint Management Team has set a timetable in accordance with the approved application form providing details of the activities to be undertaken, the progress achieved against targets, timelines, expenditures incurred, and explanations for any variances against the initial plan. In terms of next 3 month planning, LP2 has already prepared the tenders for assigning the Study Assessment of Environmental Impact (D.3.1.1), as well as the Measurements of sea water, air pollution and noise (D.4.1.5) and will be soon proceed on procuring the tenders and signing the related contracts. LP2 Project Team is in continuous collaboration with Project Manager for drafting the technical specifications regarding the heating installations and the portable fire engine. P3 has nearly finished drafting tender specifications for procuring, at once, the deliverables as regards the Study Assessment of Environmental Impacts (D.3.1.1), the Environmental Measurements (D.4.1.5), the Environmental Management System (D.4.4.1) and the Environmental Information System (D.5.1.1). The contractor of the above mentioned will provide the joint Management Team the technical specifications for the Water Flow Meters and the related monitoring system (4.2.1 & 4.2.2 for all partners). The Joint Management Team will review, evaluate the specification and proceed on procuring the tenders.