Cavotec wins order for ship-to-shore vessel power systems

Cavotec wins order for ship-to-shore vessel power systems Swiss engineering firm Cavotec has been awarded a contract by Taiwan-based CSBC Corp. to provide four of the firm's ordered container vessels with ship-to-shore power systems.
   Under terms of the contract, the four 6,600-TEU ships, to be built at the Kaohsiung shipyard in Taiwan, will be outfitted with Cavotec's alternative marine power (AMP) system. The vessels are to be delivered in 2010 and 2011, with delivery of the AMP systems to builder Yang Ming Marine Transport expected to begin in late 2009.
   The AMP system allows the vessels to plug into shore-based power facilities while at berth and turn off their auxiliary engines. Vessels at berth require the power to run onboard systems such as lighting and refrigeration.
   The emissions generated by oceangoing vessel auxiliary engines while at berth have been found to be a major contributor to diesel pollution generated at ports.
   Often referred to as 'cold ironing,' ship-to-shore systems also require dedicated shore-based port facilities to provide the power. While several California ports are developing shore-side cold ironing facilities, only the Port of Los Angeles is equipped to provide container vessels with the ship-to-shore hookups. The neighboring Port of Long Beach is nearing completion of a ship-to-shore facility at the port's largest petroleum terminal.
   California is preparing to issue final air quality regulations requiring ports to provide cold ironing facilities to those oceangoing vessels calling most frequently at the state's ports. The regulations will also provide other options to achieve the desired auxiliary engine emission reductions that do not involve ship-to-shore power.