Americas News
Hamburg Süd Marks Joint Pilot Project to Reduce Sulfur Dioxide Emissions at Chilean Port
Hamburg Süd Group (Hamburg Süd) Friday announced that it has launched a joint pilot project with AB Electrolux (Electrolux) to reduce sulfur dioxide emissions at Chile's Port of Iquique.
Under the project, the 7,154 TEU Santa Clara switched from the standard HFO to MGO on March 1 and 2 in order to run on auxiliary engines and boilers while on layover at the port.
Hamburg Süd says the effort proportionally reduces sulfur dioxide emissions for the Electrolux cargo at the port by approximately 95 percent.
"The innovative nature of the project is not primarily the change of fuel itself, which is already mandatory in the North Sea and Baltic Sea or the North American Emission Control Areas (ECAs). It is also the fact that both sides are accepting additional expense and higher costs to make the value-added chain more sustainable," said Dr. Ottmar Gast, Chairman of the Executive Board of Hamburg Süd.
"With this approach, both companies are entering uncharted territory and setting an example for more environment-friendly solutions in shipping."
The project is said to come out of a task force of members of the Clean Cargo Working Group (CCWG), and represents the first pilot phase of the project, next step would be to extend it to other ports in Chile, Mexico, and Peru.
"During the last five years, Electrolux carriers have succeeded in reducing carbon emissions by 35 percent.
"The next step, as part of the Electrolux Sustainability framework ‘For The Better’, is to reduce levels of sulfur oxides in those ports that lack regulation. We are starting in Chile," said Tomas Dahlman, Electrolux Director Global Energy Strategies.
In June, Christoph Gessner, Managing Director of Hamburg Süd subsidiary Columbus Shipmanagement GmbH (CSG) said the companies had concluded that, while liquefied natural gas (LNG) bunkers would fulfil the company's environmental goals, the choice was not financially desirable given the low price of oil.
