Americas News
Canadian Port Says No to Cold Ironing
Greater Victoria Harbour Authority (GVHA) in British Columbia, Canada says it has decided against pursuing cold ironing technology, in part because on-board exhaust gas cleaning systems can protect against pollution more effectively.
"The best solution to meet regulatory requirements and protect local air quality, both in port and at berth, is on-board scrubber technology," said President and CEO Curtis Grad.
"Shore power is a very cost prohibitive investment with limited benefits for ports-of-call like Victoria."
By monitoring air quality, the port found that elevated levels of sulfur dioxide (SO2) generally occur when ships are moving in and out of port, not when they are at berth, which is when cold ironing can be implemented.
The port said the new limits on sulfur emissions in the North American Emissions Control Area (ECA) will help improve air quality by targeting ships travelling in the harbour area, as well as at berth.
GVHA also said vessel calls at Victoria tend to be relatively short and the time required for ships to plug in to shore power could create problems for use of the technology.
The expense of using shore power, with an estimated cost of CAD9.5 million ($8.7 million) to provide equipment serving less than one third of cruise calls to the port, is high relative to the technology's effectiveness, the port authority said.
"Industry commitments to cleaner fuel and on-board scrubber technology have eclipsed shore power as a viable air quality strategy for Victoria," Grad said.
"Given that the vast majority of cruise ships operating in the Pacific Northwest will be equipped with on-board scrubbers by the end of 2015, it is not prudent to invest scarce financial resources at Ogden Point for marginal benefit."
Cruise operator Carnival Corp. recently announced that it would more than double its planned installations of scrubbers on its vessels after positive initial results.
