ESPO is delighted to congratulate the ports of Peterhead (UK) and Den Oever (NL) on their recent PERS certification after the positive evaluation of their applications by Lloyd’s Register Quality Assurance.

The port of Peterhead is a long supporter of the EcoPorts tools and approach and got PERS re-certified in January for the fourth consecutive time since 2008. The port of Den Oever in the Wadden Sea achieves PERS certification for the first time. It all started as a common project of all the Dutch Wadden Sea ports couple of years ago with the aim to join EcoPorts and get PERS certified. ESPO is delighted that currently the ports of Groningen, Harlingen, Den Helder and Den Oever are all PERS certified as a result.

PERS is the only port sector specific environmental management standard. It is the flagship product of the EcoPorts network and is offered as part of the ESPO services to its members through the EcoPorts website (www.ecoports.com). Compliance with the PERS standard is independently assessed by Lloyd’s Register Quality Assurance and the certificate has a validity of 2 years. There are 27 ports in Europe currently certified by PERS. ESPO is delighted to observe the increased interest shown to PERS by European port authorities and encourages all ports within its membership to implement the scheme and to get certified.