Hamburg Süd and Swedish manufacturer Electrolux are joining forces to reduce sulfur dioxide emissions in ports, by voluntarily using cleaner marine gas oil (MGO) instead of standard heavy fuel oil (HFO) in Latin American ports, where switching fuel is not mandatory.
Namely, during its layovers in Manzanillo (Mexico), Callao (Peru), Iquique and Puerto Angamos (Chile), between 11 and 24 March, the 7,114 TEU boxship ‘Santa Catarina’ voluntarily used MGO to operate its auxiliary engines and boilers. Both of these must be running in port to supply the ship with electricity and heat.
The companies already carried out a fuel upgrade in the past. Due to the significantly lower sulfur content of MGO, the sulfur dioxide emissions for the Electrolux cargo in question will decrease by over 95%.
Dr. Arnt Vespermann, CEO of Hamburg Süd, said:
When it comes to sustainability, reducing emissions in the interest of environmental protection plays an important role for Hamburg Süd. With this project, we are showing at the same time that Hamburg Süd is employing innovative solutions to meet the unique desires of our customers, in collaboration with them.
This joint sustainability project, financed by both parties, was already launched with a pilot phase in the spring of 2017. In the four above-mentioned ports, switching fuel from HFO to MGO is not mandatory -unlike those in the North Sea and the Baltic Sea, and unlike the North American Emission Control Areas (ECAs).
Bjorn Vang Jensen, Vice President, Global Logistics at Electrolux, stated:
Sulfur dioxide emissions are a major environmental issue in some of the communities around port cities where we ship our products. With this partnership, we are showing how the industry can move faster than legislation to improve the air quality in ports, and we hope more companies will get on board. This will support our ambition to improve the environmental footprint in the transportation chain, which is one of the goals in Electrolux sustainability strategy ‘For the Better’.
