Sustainability Environment Economic contribution Social contribution Responsible service

Our activities are based on the following environmental principles:

We ensure that the ecological footprint of our activities is kept to a minimum and strive for climate neutrality

  • To operate in environmentally friendly ways pursuant to the environmental pollution prevention principle
  • To assess all environmental impacts when planning development activities
  • To take into consideration the public opinion and the suggestions made by our clients and customers in making decisions, also following the principles of continuous improvement and sustainable use of natural resources
  • To comply with Estonian, European Union, European Sea Ports Organisation (ESPO) and international environmental legislation and guidelines
  • To achieve our environmental policy and objectives, we raise environmental awareness of our employees, cooperate with Estonian and international organisations, scientific establishments and research institutions and consultation companies

 

Environmental cooperation

Port of Tallinn is a founding member of the Estonian Association for Environmental Management, a member of the European prestigious inter-port environmental protection organisation Ecoports, and a supporting member of the world ports climate initiative C40 World Ports Climate Declaration.

Port of Tallinn contributes to Tallinn’s European Green Capital 2023 project. In the Green Tiger project, we cooperate with various companies in Estonia to contribute to the implementation of the green transition, mitigating climate change, increasing the share of the circular economy in waste management, and striving for a balanced economic model. The green and human-friendly urban environment also supports the goal of our attractive urban space and the development plans of the Old City Harbour real estate.

Energy efficiency and sustainable consumption

We have set ourselves the goals of improving energy efficiency, covering 90% of our energy needs with renewable energy and consuming natural resources sustainably. Our long-term goals in this priority area are achieving climate neutrality by 2050 and maximising the use of renewable energy. We measure our progress towards the goals using the energy efficiency and sustainable consumption indicators.

What are we doing to achieve our goals?

  • Since 2021, Pot of Tallinn is buying only renewable (wind and solar) electricity for its own use, which is 75% of the total energy consumption (2022).
  • We modernize and optimize the energy consumption of street lighting and outdoor lighting of warehouse areas
  • When constructing new buildings and renovating existing ones, we use modern energy-saving building automation and heating solutions technologies (cruise terminal, passenger terminal D).
  • Our ships use different automatic systems of fuel consumption management (Blueflow Energy Management on ferries) and shipboard energy-efficient ship management (Botnical SEEMP), which help to improve the navigation in real time, use the optimal speed according to the navigation area, and plan the need for cleaning the ship’s underwater hull in order to save fuel, thereby reducing the fuel consumption negative impact on the environment
  • We use digital building information modelling (BIM) in building and infrastructure planning and management. BIM is a solution designed to manage, organise and control business and construction processes at all stages of a building’s life cycle. It helps ensure design and construction quality and provides information that enables us to optimise building management costs. BIM was used in the design and construction of the cruise terminal, passenger terminal D with a multi-storey car park and Admiral Bridge.

Clean Baltic Sea and circular economy

Our long-term goals in this priority area are to have 70% of waste recycled in the circular economy, to minimise the risks and hazards of marine pollution and to maintain biodiversity in coastal areas in the places where the Group operates. We monitor our progress using the indicators.

With every activity, we monitor our impact on the natural environment, for which we carry out pre-, during- and post-construction monitoring of the marine environment. The purpose of the monitoring is to assess the impact resulting from the port’s activities and the impact after filling and dredging on benthic fauna, flora, fish and coastal processes in the nearby area.

The harbours of Tallinna Sadam have adequate capacity to receive bilge water, oily sludge, sewage, garbage and scrubber waste from all ships calling at them. In recent years, the share of ship waste directed to recycling has remained between 43-53%. The volume of recycled waste is affected by the type of waste received. The share of landfilled waste is minimal and 98% of waste received was recycled. AS Green Marine, an associate of Port of Tallinn, deals with the handling of ship waste in ports.

Port of Tallinn contributes to ensuring the purity of the Baltic Sea by helping prevent the discharge of ship sewage into the sea. To that end, we have provided Old City Harbour with a sewage pipeline for cruise quays and all frequently used ferry quays and a micro-tunnel with a sewage reception capacity of 1,200 m3 per hour. Thanks to the onshore sewer system, cruise ships and ferries calling at Old City Harbour can dispose of unlimited amounts of sewage without any additional charge.

Because of the potential impacts of harbour operations, we monitor marine biodiversity. The longterm goal is that the number of benthic community species near Old City Harbour (Tallinn Bay) and Muuga Harbour should not differ from the average values for the reference site (Kakumäe Bay). According to the monitoring data of the last years, the condition of the sea near Muuga Harbour and Old City Harbour continues to be the same as at the reference station. We use metrics to monitor the fulfillment of marine biodiversity goals.

Clean air

Our long-term goals in this priority area are achieving climate neutrality and zero emissions from ships staying in our harbours by 2050. We monitor our progress towards the goals using the indicators. Our objective is to make sure that outdoor air in our locations of operation is clean and of high quality. To achieve this, we employ innovative solutions and work closely with our customers and partners.

In 2020, Port of Tallinn and the Estonian Maritime Academy at TalTech developed a methodology for measuring the GHG emissions of our harbours and vessels, which has been used to measure our GHG emissions for periods starting from 2019. The GHG emissions survey included the development of an action plan, i.e. measures with a sig- nificant effect on reducing the GHG emissions of Port of Tallinn.

See also the final report of Port of Tallinn emission mapping (2020, Maritime Academy).

Calculation and results of greenhouse gas emissions (29.02.2024).

 

What have we done to achieve cleaner outdoor air?

Smart Port traffic management system (automated vehicle check-in and direction to the waiting area and boarding) in Old City Harbor simplifies and speeds up the check-in of passengers with vehicles and their movement in the harbour area, which in turn reduces emissions on the harbour premises. In 2021, Smart Port system implementation also started at Muuga Harbour and Paldiski South Harbour.

Redirection of heavy-duty and other vehicles from the city centre. To reduce traffic load on the premises of Old City Harbour and to lower the noise level and improve the air quality in the area, more and more heavy-duty and other vehicles are being diverted from Old City Harbour to Muuga Harbour and Paldiski South Harbour.

E-nose system. Odour issues caused by the cargo handled by oil terminals are mitigated by air quality monitoring stations and a network of electronic noses (e-Noses) installed in the area of Muuga Harbour. The system enables us to promptly identify the location and source of the odour nuisance, so we can start resolving the issue without delay.

Onshore power supply. Old City Harbour has an onshore power supply system which has been available for ferries sailing on Tallinn-Helsinki and Tallinn-Stockholm routes since 2021. Ferries that use onshore power can switch off their engines, which reduces shipgenerated emissions and particulate matter. This helps improve air quality and reduce noise and vibration both in the harbour and the city.

Auto-mooring. Since 2021, ferries arriving at and departing from Old City Harbour on the Tallinn–Helsinki route have been served by auto-mooring systems, which have been installed on the three busiest quays to reduce mooring time, make mooring safer and save the environment. The systems reduce air pollution from vessels by shortening manoeuvring and mooring time.

ESI discount for ships. We grant eco-friendly vessels a discount on port dues based on the Environmental Ship Index (ESI). In recent years, we have granted ESI-based discounts on over 1,100 port calls annually, which accounts for16- 18% of all port calls.

TS Laevad, a subsidiary of Tallinna Sadam, contributes to reducing GHG emissions by using the Blueflow Energy Management System to monitor the fuel consumption of its ferries and environmentally friendly hybrid technology on the ferry Tõll.

Activities in the following years to reduce GHG emissions

Onshore power supply for cruise ships and container ships.

Creation of bunkering possibilities for alternative fuels for ships.

Transferring the group’s fleet to environmentally friendly fuel consumption and electrification.

Valdo Kalm

Vanasadama reisiterminalide juures on võimalik reisijate pealevõtmiseks ja mahapanekuks lühiajaliselt tasuta parkida – selleks on nii A- kui D-terminali juures Kiss&Sail parklad. Kiss&Sail parklad on kasutamiseks nii erasõidukitele, mittelepingulistele taksodele kui ka sõidujagamis-app’ide sõidukitele (Bolt, Uber, Yandex jne). Otse terminali uste ette pääsevad vaid lepingulised taksod (Tallink, Tulika). Terminalide ees on lubatud lühiajaliselt parkida ainult bussidel.