On Tuesday 25 June, HAROPA PORT received the 2024 Best Green Seaport and Best Seaport in Europe awards during the AFLAS (Asian Freight, Logistics and Supply Chain Awards) ceremony organised in Shanghai by the Asian magazine Asia Cargo News.

The 2024 Best Green Seaport and Best Seaport in Europe awards were presented to HAROPA PORT by the readers of Asia Cargo News magazine. The AFLAS (Asian Freight, Logistics and Supply Chain Awards) ceremony took place on Tuesday 25 June in the ballrooms of the Waldorf Astoria hotel in Shanghai, the world’s leading port for container traffic. The two awards were presented to Krishnaraj Danaradjou, Deputy Managing Director in charge of development at HAROPA PORT, and Cédric Virciglio, Director of Strategic Planning at HAROPA PORT, in the presence of Hervé Bonis, President of Seine Port Union. HAROPA PORT and Seine Port Union are committed to decarbonisation and the establishment of a green corridor along the Seine to ensure efficient and sustainable logistics.

Competing against other global ports, including Hamburg (Germany), Long Beach (United States) and Singapore, HAROPA PORT was voted both ‘Best Seaport in Europe’ and ‘Best Green Seaport’ by the 15,000 readers of Asia Cargo News magazine. This double accolade illustrates the appeal and competitiveness of France’s leading port cluster in the Asia-Pacific region.

These awards recognise the initiatives implemented by HAROPA PORT and its port authorities to reconcile economic development with the ecological and energy transition.

This is the seventh time that France’s leading port has been awarded the Best Green Seaport trophy (in 2015, 2016, 2017, 2020, 2021 and 2022), and the eighth time it has received the Best Seaport Europe trophy (awarded in 2011, 2021, 2013, 2014; 2017, 2018 and 2019).

The criteria taken into account included:

– Diversity and capacity to develop its maritime services;

– Speed of cargo handling;

– Strategy and initiatives implemented as part of the smart port initiative;

– Compliance with environmental regulations governing freight transport;

– Investments in the environmental and energy transition.

Asia Cargo News is an English-language magazine aimed at professionals in the supply chain and freight sectors across the Asia-Pacific region. Every year, the magazine’s editorial team, based in Hong Kong, organises the Asian Freight, Logistics and Supply Chain Awards (AFLAS). The awards, decided by a vote of the magazine’s readers, recognise players in the logistics and transport sectors for service quality, innovation, customer relationship management, environmental sustainability, the energy transition and the reliability of supply chains.

Focus on investments in the green and energy transition

With regard to the Best Green Seaport award, HAROPA PORT was recognised in particular for its dual ambition to support the development of its multimodal logistics corridor and to strengthen its decarbonised industrial ecosystem.

• Development of the Seine axis ‘green corridor’: HAROPA PORT will commence work in 2024 on the ‘chatière’ and the Port Seine Métropole Ouest multimodal hub, located to the west of Paris, and is working to improve all access routes to Port 2000 in Le Havre to strengthen multimodal logistics services along the Seine corridor.

• Electrification of quays: Along the entire Seine corridor, 44 electric charging points have been installed on the quays managed by HAROPA PORT and Voies Navigables de France, preventing 4,300 tonnes of CO₂ emissions per year. By the end of 2024, a further 82 charging points will be installed. By 2026, the aim is to have 132 quay-side charging points in the Seine basin to meet users’ needs.

• A ‘valley of new fuels’ is taking shape: HAROPA PORT is set to host two major projects for the industrial-scale production of renewable and low-carbon fuels (biomethane, e-kerosene and hydrogen).

Source: HAROPA press release, 27 June 2024.