Ricardo at the helm of green shipping innovation for north sea corridor

Ricardo will be the lead environmental consultancy in the next phase of the development of ‘Green North Sea Shipping Corridor Project’, seeking to create a Green Shipping Corridor (GSC) between the Port of Tyne (UK) and Port of Ijmuiden (Amsterdam).

The project, which includes partners from the two ports; ferry operator, DFDS; and maritime data and communication provider, KSVA, is part of a £9 million investment package announced by the Maritime Minister, Mike Kane MP, in October, to decarbonise shipping.

Green corridors are zero emission maritime routes between two or more ports. As the lead environmental consultancy, Ricardo will provide its expertise and insight in sustainable shipping and low-carbon fuels choice to help determine a viable path for decarbonisation between the two ports.

Matthew Moss, Ricardo Maritime Sustainable Transport Senior Consultant, said: “Green corridors represent a crucial milestone on the path to maritime decarbonisation. By focusing on predictable routes and consistent operational profiles, they lower barriers to adoption and create momentum for sustainable change. At Ricardo, we leverage our expertise in vessel and port decarbonisation to support these transformative projects, delivering insights that build resilient infrastructure and robust fuel supply chains for a greener future.”

Matt Beeton, CEO at the Port of Tyne, said: “This initiative represents another step forward for the port in our sustainability journey.  By establishing this green corridor between the Port of Tyne and the Port of IJmuiden, we aim to significantly reduce carbon emissions between the Northeast of England and northern Europe, with the aim of saving up to 850,000 tonnes of CO2 annually. The success of this project will bring more green jobs to the region and drive the development of port infrastructure for electrification and the refuelling of state-of-the-art clean powered vessels.”

Peter van de Meerakker, Managing Director of Zeehaven IJmuiden N.V. - Port of IJmuiden, said: "This project is very important for us, as we need to accelerate the reduction of our shipping emissions. With the ‘zero emission’ new tonnage of DFDS, we are taking an important step forward, since a lot needs still to be done on both sides of the North Sea and this project helps enormously speed up and achieve our goals."

Declan Walsh, DFDS: “DFDS is committed to becoming a carbon neutral Transport & Logistics company by 2050 and the decarbonisation of our Passenger business is a key part of this journey. Transforming our current Amsterdam-Newcastle route to a RoPAX Green Corridor is a massive undertaking and we are fortunate to have such great partners to help us make this happen.”

ENDS

Background

In March 2022, the UK Government announced the biggest government investment ever in our UK commercial maritime sector, allocating £206m to UK SHORE, a new programme within the Department for Transport focused on decarbonising the maritime sector. UK SHORE is delivering a suite of interventions throughout 2022-2025 aimed at accelerating the design, manufacture and operation of UK-made clean maritime technologies and unlocking an industry-led transition to Net Zero.

The UK SHORE programme includes the flagship multi-year Clean Maritime Demonstration Competition (CMDC), which provides match-funding to help bring pre-commercial technologies closer to market readiness. CMDC5: IGCF allocated £1.5m for feasibility studies that examine green corridor routes between the UK and international partner countries between 2024 and 2025.

CMDC5:IGCF follows the successful first four rounds of the CMDC, which allocated over £128m to 138 projects. CMDC1 was launched in 2021, prior to UK SHORE.