EMEA News
Port of London Says 66 Ships Qualified for Green Discounts in 2017's Q1
The Port of London Authority (PLA) Monday announced that 66 ships calling at terminals on the Thames qualified for the UK's first port charge discount for cleaner ships in the first quarter of 2017.
The discount is available to ships that exceed International Maritime Organization (IMO) emission standards as scored by a scheme administered by the World Ports Climate Initiative.
"We introduced this incentive as part of a broad programme of work to address concerns about air quality, particularly in urban areas. Alongside the discount for cargo ships, we are working with the Greater London Authority (GLA) and Transport for London (TfL) to develop a Thames air quality strategy," said PLA CEO, Robin Mortimer.
"It's great to see that we've already got some of the largest vessels calling in the port qualifying for the discount. It's one way in which we can incentivise ship owners to invest in the latest environmental technologies. Alongside the discount we are also looking at air quality on the river in central London and how we continuously improve the environmental performance of our own operations."
The PLA notes that it has commissioned a series of studies over the next six months to assess the scope for shore side power, air emissions for comparable road and river journeys, and an emissions inventory with TfL.
The research will help inform the Thames' first air quality strategy, which PLA, GLA, and TfL aim to publish by the end of 2017.
"Our team is looking at trialling an electric power unit in one of our upriver harbour patrol boats. Installation will be technically challenging, because the batteries take up so much space.
"Electric power is increasingly well established, so I'm expecting the trial to show the unit to be reliable and cost effective, setting a benchmark for the rest of the fleet," said Dave Fallows, PLA mechanical & electrical engineer.
"We will be adding a large land side power supply at our Barrier Garden Pier at Woolwich, so that our biggest boat, London Titan, can charge while working on the river in central London."
