Norwegian shipbuilder Ulstein Verft announced delivery of the world’s largest plug-in hybrid vessel, ‘Color Hybrid’, to Oslo-based company Color Line, on 1st August. The ship represents an important milestone for its innovative and new environmentally friendly solutions.
During an interview with the SAFETY4SEA team at Nor-Shipping 2019, Jan Erik Rasanen, Head of New Technologies, Foreship, talked about the need of today’s ships to comply with upcoming legislations, providing an overview of the major highlights regarding alternative propulsion technologies for ships.
Shore power enables ships equipped with the necessary equipment to shut down diesel powered auxiliary engines and plug into land-based electrical power. This reduces emissions of pollutants that damage air quality and GHG emissions that contribute to climate change. It also reduces engine noise. In this video, the Port of Vancouver presents its own shore power facility.
Tallink Grupp announced that it began using its shore power in order to provide electricity to two of its vessels, Silja Serenade and Silja Symhony, while they’re alongside in port, to decrease the environmental impact of the vessels and also mitigate air pollution in the Nordic capital cities the company’s vessels visit.
APL announced a 47.4% reduction in carbon dioxide emissions per container transported per kilometre in 2018, compared to its base level in 2009. The result comes after the Environmental Performance Assessment (EPA) of APL’s 2018 carbon dioxide emission data by the global non-profit organization Business for Social Responsibility’s Clean Cargo Working Group.
Using electrical power for ships at berth instead of diesel-burning engines, ‘cold ironing’ can greatly reduce air pollution from ships. When ships use shore power, they connect into landside electricity for their power needs at berth, avoiding to run diesel-fueled auxiliary on-board engines. According to estimations, shore power is able to limit air pollution from ships at berth by 95%.
The German Port of Kiel officially inaugurated its first shore-based power supply plant for ships at the Norwegenkai terminal, on 9 May. With immediate effect, the Color Line’s big cruise-ferries can now be supplied with emission-free electric power from on shore.
With the shipping industry entering a new, environmentally-friendly period, stakeholders in the maritime industry are seeking for ways to reduce their ships’ emissions. Apart from choosing green fuels and scrubbers, ports come to add another solution: Cold Ironing. This is the process of providing shoreside electrical power to a ship at berth, while its main and auxiliary engines are turned off.
North Sea Port announced the addition of two new shore-based power units in Ghent, meaning that shore-side power is now available in Terneuzen and Ghent. North Sea Port is currently taking measures to improve air quality in the port, as it already provides shore-side power for inland waterway vessels. These shore-based power units were commissioned on 1 March.
One of the world’s largest container vessels, ‘COSCO shipping Pisces’, that has a capacity of 20.000 TEU, was docked at Piraeus port on February 15, after voyaging for one month from China. This is the vessel’s first voyage, after its delivery on January 15.
