Maersk Line and the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach are partnering to measure the environmental benefits of a US$125 million upgrade for 12 Maersk container ships.
The partnership will involve the installation of high-tech equipment to track vessel emissions and energy efficiency over the next three years, ultimately reducing the environmental impact of vessels calling at the San Pedro Bay port complex.
Port of Long Beach Interim CEO Duane Kenagy, added: “We’re pleased to be a part of this project, and we hope it will serve as a model to encourage even more progress and creativity in emissions reductions from ocean-going vessels.”
The project called “The Connected Vessel Programme” will continuously record how much fuel each engine uses in conjunction with speed, engine power, weather and other operational variables through use of mass flow meters and an interface to the onboard Integrated Control System (ICS).
Information will be uploaded to Maersk Line servers via satellite and each ship will be able to communicate in real-time with Maersk Line’s Global Vessel Performance Centre (GVPC) to increase operational efficiency. Something Maersk calls the equivalent of strapping a Fitbit onto a large container ship.
Maersk’s radical upgrade programme is expected to decrease each ship’s fuel consumption by more than 10%, saving an estimated 10,000 metric tonnes of fuel and reducing greenhouse emissions by an estimated 31,000 tonnes of CO2 on an annual basis.
The ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach will together contribute a total of $1m under their joint Technology Advancement Program (TAP) which aims to accelerate the evaluation and demonstration of new and emerging clean port technologies.
source: greenport |