Americas News
Santa Barbara Hails Voluntary Slow Steaming initiative
The Santa Barbara County Air Pollution Control District (APCD) says that 10 shipping companies 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.
The programme, which has been running since July 1 and will continue until November 15, is noted to be a collaborative effort by the Santa Barbara County APCD, NOAA's Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary, the Ventura County APCD, the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation, and the Volgenau Foundation.
Companies participating in the programme are said to include CMA CGM, Evergreen, Hamburg Sud, Hapag Lloyd, Holland, K Line, Maersk, MOL, NYK Line, and Yang Ming.
"It's exciting that we are able to build on the success of our 2014 VSR Trial to implement an expanded vessel speed reduction program in 2016," said Chris Mobley, superintendent of Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary, adding: "we applaud the shipping industry's high degree of participation."
The Santa Barbara County APCD says Automatic Identification System (AIS) data shows that 75 percent of the enrolled transits during the July and August period saw the reduction of speeds to 12 knots or less, with four of the transits noted to have achieved an additional bonus incentive for slowing to 10 knots or less.
"The positive response we have received demonstrates that this program is not only successful in protecting whales and reducing air pollution but also highly supported by the industry," said Ted Lillestolen, NMSF interim President and CEO.
"Now that we know this initiative works, we need to find additional resources to continue the effort."
The 2016 incentive programme offers incentives ranging from $1,500 to $2,500, depending on historical speeds in the programme area, and additional incentives of up to $1,250 are available to ships that slow transit speeds to 10 knots or less, submit detailed whale sightings reports, and show schedules to verify that participating ships did not need to speed up elsewhere along the route.
In April, the California Air Resources Board (ARB) announced that it had determined that the North American Emissions Control Area (ECA) alone was not currently likely to achieve sufficient emission reductions within Regulated California Waters, and as such, the California Ocean-Going Vessel (OGV) Fuel Regulation would remain in place for at least a further two years.
