Environmental effects of port activities can be controlled and decreased with different kind of policy instruments. Policy instruments can be divided into regulatory instruments, economic instruments and information-based guidance. The term best environmental practice means the application of the most appropriate combination of environmental control measures and strategies. Nowadays also port operators are beginning to see the potential advantages of sharing ideas on best practice and trends. In this paper we conduct a literature review and a case study on environmental policy instruments and best practices in port operations. We briefly examine the strengths and weaknesses of the different policy instruments. In order to study the best practices in port operations we will examine for example previous projects, the ports' voluntary actions and the environmental initiatives in port development. In addition, we discuss in more depth about best practices in the Port of Helsinki in Finland.