Maersk Line, Long Beach, and Los Angeles Partner to Monitor Vessel "Energy Efficiency Makeover"

by Ship & Bunker News Team
Tuesday November 8, 2016

Maersk Line (Maersk), the Port of Long Beach (PoLB), and the Port of Los Angeles (Port of L.A.) Monday jointly announced that they are partnering to measure the environmental benefits of a $125 million "energy efficiency makeover" completed on 12 Maersk ships - a move that they say will enable increased transparency and reduce vessels' environmental impacts at the San Pedro Bay port complex.

Known as "the Connected Vessel Programme," the project will see the installation of high-tech equipment for tracking vessel emissions and energy efficiency, and will see data collected and analysed over a three-year period.

"This is the equivalent of strapping a Fitbit onto a large container ship," said Dr. Lee Kindberg, Director of Environment and Sustainability for Maersk Line, adding: "We'll be tracking vessel performance and emissions 24/7. This advances our ability to reduce greenhouse gases and other pollutants on a global scale."

The monitoring project is said to build on Maersk Line's $125 million "radical retrofit" programme, which is aimed at reducing fuel consumption and increasing capacity for vessels regularly calling at the San Pedro Bay ports, and is expected to decrease each ship's fuel consumption by more than 10 percent to save an estimated annual 10,000 metric tonnes (mt) of fuel, 31,000 tonnes of CO2, as well as similar reductions in NOx, SOx, and diesel particulate matter (DPM).

Under their joint grant programme, the Technology Advancement Program (TAP), the ports are contributing a combined $1 million to the project's real-time tracking systems, said to represent an "industry-leading" application to track vessel emissions of ships at sea and at berth.

"This project is a vivid example of the deep commitment to environmental sustainability that we have grown to expect from our goods movement partners, as we all work together to create a healthier planet," said Duane Kenagy, PoLB's Interim CEO.

"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 will specifically see the collection of fuel consumption data from each of the the ships' engines in conjunction with speed, engine power, weather and other operational variables through use of mass flow meters (MFM) and an interface to the on-board Integrated Control System.

Information collected will then be uploaded via satellite to Maersk Line servers, with each vessel able to communicate in real-time with the Maersk Line Global Vessel Performance Centre to boost operational efficiency.

Last month, Ship & Bunker reported that the Santa Barbara County Air Pollution Control District (APCD) said that 10 shipping companies, including Maersk, are participating in a slow steaming incentive programme, which encourages the voluntary reduction of transit speeds in the Santa Barbara Channel region to 12 knots and below.