Cruise Industry Trade Body Questions Cold-Ironing for New Zealand Ports

by Ship & Bunker News Team
Friday December 22, 2017

A move to embrace cold ironing as a way of curtailing emissions from ships in New Zealand ports has been questioned by a cruise line trade organisation.

The Ports of Auckland is to plumb for shore power, also known as cold-ironing when a ship plugs into electrical power while at berth, for cruise ships docked in the port.

The decision follows the release of findings from a study into the various options for curbing cruise ship emissions.

But trade body Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) has questioned the usefulness of shore power over the long term.

"With the advancements in cleaner fuels and emissions abatement systems, the usefulness of shore power will likely decline over time, and it should not be assumed that the next generation of cruise ships will be designed and built as shore power enabled," CLIA Australasia managing director Joel Katz said in a statement.

Cruise ship emissions have caught the attention of legislators in neighbourning Australia  In the Tasmanian port of Hobart, 0.1% sulfur cap is being considered while in the mainland port of Sydney, a 0.1% cap on cruise ships at berth is already in place.