Owners’ initiatives APL clears the air
eptune Orient Lines (NOL) container shipping arm APL is reducing ship emissions in US ports by rolling out a robust cold-ironing strategy. The company is also adopting a range of other measures to help save fuel, including the use of low sulphur fuel in a wider range of ports. In April, APL became the first liner company to commit to burning low sulphur marine gas oil when its vessels call in Singapore, home base of parent NOL. The move, which started from mid-April, is expected to slash SOx emissions by 90%, while ash and particulate matter emissions are likely to fall by 80-90%. The line has 80 vessels making over 900 calls annually in Singapore, and all of these now burn marine gas oil.
N
Marine gas oil has just 0.25% sulphur content and compares favourably with new international regulations which will cap the sulphur content of bunker fuel at 3.5% from next year. However,
burning marine gas oil is significantly more expensive, costing roughly 50% more than 380 cSt heavy fuel. Singapore is not the first port where APL has made the switch to low sulphur fuel, having started with Los Angeles and Seattle in 2007, followed by Vancouver, Hong Kong and New Jersey.
At the end of May the line went one step further in the port of Oakland, turning off vessel engines while alongside and switching to cold ironing. The APL Singapore became the first vessel to turn to shore power and ‘cold iron’ at Oakland on May 27. During cold ironing, the vessel’s shipboard electrical power systems are powered from the landside electricity grid through large cables.
The call by the APL Singapore at Oakland marked the start of a programme to establish cold ironing on five vessels on the transpacific trade this year. But the green move is expensive. Retrofitting of the five vessels
and the rewiring required at the company’s Oakland terminal is costing $11m. Cold ironing will eliminate almost 23 tonnes of NOx emissions and 680kg of particulate emissions from the five vessels every year.
Cold ironing will become mandatory for all containerships calling in the state of California in 2014.
Cold ironing in Oakland
33
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56