Container Ships in California Required to Turn Off Engines when in Port

The shipping industry is one of the biggest polluting transport industries in the world, emitting vast amounts of greenhouse gas. An article on Take Part suggests that 41 percent of emissions are produced whilst the ships are at berth, where they are closest to public communities, and cleaner sources of energy.

Starting in January 2014, California will become the first city in the world that requires containers ships to turn off their diesel powered generators for at least 50 percent of the time that they are in port. This has the potential to eliminate virtually all ‘at-berth’ emissions, and will be the equivalent of removing 33,000 cars from the roads.

Renee Moilanen, an environmental specialist at the Port of Long Beach, explained that the Port had positioned itself as a world leader in terms of setting environmental policies, and reducing all harbour-related pollution.

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In 2006 they implemented a plan to improve air quality via a set of specific strategies to reduce overall pollution by 2023. Emission targets were set, such as reducing levels of nitrogen oxide by 59%, sulphur oxides by 93%, and diesel particulate matter by 77%.

Port authorities are in the process of a $200 million transition to install the necessary infrastructure to allow docked container ships to connect directly to electricity from the grid.

By. Charles Kennedy of Oilprice.com