ABS will support the California Air Resources Board (CARB) with the implementation of new requirements to reduce harbor craft emissions.
The newly amended State of California Commercial Harbor Craft Regulation requires most harbor craft vessels to meet performance standards equivalent to a lower emission Tier 4 engine and diesel particulate filter, and some vessel categories to upgrade to zero-emission or advanced technology.
The amended regulation went into effect January 1, 2023. ABS will provide technical support to CARB, evaluating a vessel’s feasibility for modification to the new requirements, consulting on vessel design issues and evaluation of applications for compliance extension eligibility.
The ABS Global Sustainability Center in Houston is leading this multi-year project, concluding in March 2025.
ABS is working with vessels all over the world, supporting owners and operators to adapt assets to comply with evolving sustainability regulatory demands and has developed deep domain expertise
said Georgios Plevrakis, ABS Vice President, Global Sustainability.
The goal of the Ocean-Going Vessels At Berth Regulation is to reduce diesel particulate matter (PM) and oxides of nitrogen (NOx) from ocean-going vessels auxiliary engines while they are docked at California ports.
The original Ocean-Going Vessel At-Berth Regulation was approved in December 2007 with compliance requirements that began in 2014. The 2007 At-Berth Regulation affects the following three vessel categories: container ships, passenger ships, and refrigerated-cargo ships at six California ports:
- Los Angeles
- Long Beach
- Oakland
- San Diego
- San Francisco
- Hueneme.
