Cold ironing comes to Antwerp

Cold ironing comes to Antwerp    Ships belonging to transatlantic container carrier Independent Container Line (ICL) will be able to plug in to the shore-side electric grid for their power needs when they are in the Port of Antwerp, rather than running their engines, thereby sharply reducing pollution.
   Monday afternoon, Flemish minister-president Kris Peeters operated the switch supplying shore power to the first ICL vessel. Shore power is already available for barges, as well as the port authority's tug and dredger fleet, floating cranes and dry dock complex. Soon it will also be supplied to pleasure craft and houseboats.
   Until Monday, however, it had not been available to seagoing ships, the segment, which the port said, has the most powerful effect on the environmental performance because of their size.
   Independent Maritime Terminal (IMT), which shares common European owners with ICL, and the Flemish community collaborated on the project. ICL had three of its four ships built recently in China so that they can make use of the shore power facility.
   ICL ships will able to use a shore-based electricity supply when they are lying at berth, what is commonly called “cold ironing” since the ship’s engines can be switched off. As a consequence they will no longer have to run their onboard engines to generate power, resulting in reduced emissions of nitrogen oxides, carbon dioxide and particulate matter.
   The port said using shore power cuts CO2 emissions by more than half and NOX emissions by as much as 97 percent, while carbon monoxide emissions are practically eliminated.
   Total cost of the shore power facilities amounts to more than 1.1 million euros ($1.5 million), with IMT receiving financial support from the port authority and the Flemish community.