APL Announces $11 Million Clean-Air Plan in Oakland

Global shipping company APL and the Bay Area Air Quality Management District have announced an $11 million project to cut vessel emissions and improve Oakland, CA's air quality.  

 

With $4.8 million in air quality grants, the world's fifth-largest container carrier said it will retrofit its terminal and vessels to begin cold-ironing in December 2010 at the Port of Oakland. Cold-ironing is industry jargon for turning off a ship's 2,000 horsepower diesel generators at berth and connecting instead to electrical sources ashore. This enables vessels to maintain power in port while eliminating exhaust emissions.  

 

Cold-ironing will cut more than 50,000 pounds of nitrogen oxide emissions - a leading component of smog - from ships berthed in Oakland and 1,500 pounds of particulate matter annually. APL reports that it will be the first and only carrier or terminal operator at the port to cold-iron vessels.

 

Starting this past December, APL began outfitting five vessels that call regularly in Oakland for cold-ironing. In late summer, APL will launch a four-month construction project to electrify berths at its Global Gateway Central marine terminal in Oakland.  When that work is completed, cold-ironing will begin.  

 

Cold-ironing is considered one of the most effective ways to curb emissions from vessels at port and improve coastal air quality, APL reports. The company is getting a three-year jump start on regulations mandating cold-ironing that will take effect in California in 2014.  

 

 

for more information: www.apllogistics.com