The port of Basel from the air.


Photo Patrick Walde – Port of Switzerland


Ports along Green Corridor crucially important


The supporting functions of the ports barges call at are crucially important for realising


zero-emission inland navigation. The RH2INE initiators sought partners among the inland ports along the Rhine from the outset. Duisport, Europe’s largest inland port, was the logical first contact partner.


Much of the freight transported on the Rhine is carried by barges between Rotterdam and Duisburg. Therefore, decarbonisation will pay off most quickly on this trajectory. In the long run though, the green corridor is intended to end high up on the Rhine in Basel, at the Port of Switzerland. It will take some time, but in anticipating


the future the Swiss port authority recently joined RH2INE. Two ports, two perspectives.


Spearheading Duisport must be the first to prove that the hydrogen-powered ships that will call at the port as of 2025 are assured of bunkering (green) hydrogen. It is not the only task for the ports within the Green Corridor project RH₂INE, but the most important one.


Alexander Garbar. Photo Port of Switzerland


Alexander Garbar, head of Corporate Development and Strategy at duisport and permanent point of contact for the RH₂INE project, is quite satisfied with the project so far: “We’ve gotten a lot done, considering that we are all new to the topic.” He refers to joint research, to the standards reached around the hydrogen tankcontainers, and to progress in new regulations. At the same time,


he points out that there is still much work to be done, especially in terms of licensing procedures and financial support. With the new secretariat within the organisation WaterstofNet, Garbar expects to


10 • RH2INE


build more political pressure in Brussels. At the same time ports can do so in their own sphere of influence. “Ports are the most visible partners within RH₂INE,” as Garbar puts it. “Most of them are owned by municipalities and/or regional authorities. Therefore, we can exert political influence more easily and fairly directly.”


Alexander Garbar Ports have a short line to


politics and can therefore exert political influence more easily and fairly directly


Hydrogen is considered a hazardous cargo. Consequently, the regulations that ports have to deal with are mainly about emission standards, fire protection and distance regulations for on-site storage and handling. If a port is located near a residential area, as is partly the case in Duisburg and also in Basel, supervision is stricter. None of this is relevant for the initial phase, as the quantities of hydrogen are still small. As long as less than 3,5 tonnes are stored in the port, no permit is required. However, the point is being prepared for the future, when several ships running on hydrogen will dock every day.


Basic conditions The larger ports along the corridor, such as duisport, Rheincargo in Düsseldorf-Neuss and Cologne, Mannheim and now more intensively Basel, together formulate the basic conditions for energy container logistics. “After all, shipping companies need to be sure they can bunker”, says Garbar. Again the initial phase will be easy to handle as the ships will not sail flexibly, but between two or at most three ports, Garbar expects.


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