Vast and Port of Rotterdam collaborate to drive tanker electrification
The two companies signed an agreement to conduct fleet studies, energy demand assessments, and other factors to enable Shore Power, or Onshore Power (OPS) for tankers.
Vast Infraestrutura and the Port of Rotterdam, considered the largest in Europe and an important energy hub, announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to promote the electrification of tankers at berth worldwide.
Named OPS for Tankers First Movers Coalition, the initiative seeks to engage maritime industry stakeholders such as shipowners, oil companies, and terminals and their trade associations to develop a joint action plan to promote Onshore Power Supply (OPS) for tankers.
The measure is in line with one of the Decarbonization Pathways developed by Vast, which aims to enable the electrification of vessels through partnerships to contribute to the decarbonization of the maritime sector. Today, T-Oil already provides shore power for tugboats and support vessels.
The agreement outlines case studies on fleet composition, navigation routes, the adaptability of the world’s leading liquid terminals, energy demand, and other key factors necessary for the safe connection of these vessels to the power grid. The studies aim to create the necessary collaboration between stakeholders. Various stakeholders will be involved after the contracting of the studies. The results will be brought under the attention of regulatory agencies, including the IMO to find support for regulations that will be needed for successful deployment of this technology in the future.
“Today, there are three main barriers: technology, adequate port infrastructure, and a fleet capable of connecting to the grid. Through this partnership, our goal is to engage multiple stakeholders to accelerate OPS for tankers, which is already considered an efficient way to decarbonize ships at berth for various other ship types. The tanker market poses specific challenges that we want to address in this project. ,” said Adriano Truffi Lima, Sustainability Director at Vast Infraestrutura.
The Oil Companies International Marine Forum (OCIMF), of which Vast is a member, established an OPS working group that already published preliminary design recommendations for tankers and terminals and announced a full information paper covering aspects of safe application. Port of Rotterdam contributes to this paper based on extensive studies. It is expected that in the mean time the electrotechnical standard for tankers will become available.
In the maritime sector, emissions from tankers carrying crude oil and its derivatives are considered “hard-to-abate” due to the difficulty of reducing their emissions. OPS is an available technology that allows clean decarbonization at berth, but that still needs to be embraced by the tanker sector. This initiative aims to bring a positive boost. The first case study that will be led by Vast and Port of Rotterdam will focus on crude oil tankers. The future case studies will focus on other segments of the tanker market.
According to the Vast executive, this voluntary initiative has the potential to positively impact the maritime sector on a global scale. “One of the pillars of Vast’s decarbonization plan is to develop collaborative solutions to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions of the maritime segment and help to lower the footprint of oil exports from Brazil. The initial cooperation with the Port of Rotterdam, one of the world’s most prominent ports, is a strategic move for this proposes,” Lima added.
The Port of Rotterdam is a major entry point for crude oil into Europe and a key destination for tankers conducting transshipment operations from Vast’s terminal, located at the Port of Açu in northern Rio de Janeiro state. In 2024, Vast accounted for nearly 40% of Brazil’s total crude oil exports. It is estimated that the country’s oil export volumes will triple by 2030.