Features
Plugging In
Shore power growing more popular at both cruise and container terminals
By Fred McCague
The use of shore power, also called cold ironing, is now slowly being added to cruise terminals on the West Coast and to other terminals as well
Juneau set the stage in 2001
On July 24, 2001, after just nine months of study and construction, Princess Cruises’ Dawn Princess plugged into the new shore power facility at the South Franklin St. Dock in Juneau, Alaska. For Princess Cruises, the installation was a $4.5 million pilot project partly in response to pressure from advocacy groups but also because of the availability of surplus hydroelectric power from Alaska Electric Light & Power Co. A dam supplies Juneau with power, but it’s isolated from the nation’s electric grid.
For Juneau, the company developed a five-plug power system, which included four 3-1/2-inch diameter cables and one smaller cable, suspended from a small jib crane and passed through a side port. The cables are plugged into a custom-designed board. The system provides either 6.6 kV or 11 kV power and up to 11,000 kW (equivalent to 15,000 hp) on board the cruiseship. This is now effectively the standard for cruiseships.
In 2008, six of seven Princess Cruises ships calling Juneau were fitted for shore power. However, on April 16, avalanches wiped out transmission lines between the dam and Juneau, leaving the city reliant on diesel generators. The ships will use their own power at least until mid-June.
More terminals come on board
This shore power program is expanding.
• Seattle — Shore power was added to the Terminal 30 cruise terminal for Princess Cruises, and the following year, the dock’s second berth was fitted for Holland America Line. During the summer, four ships per week plug in. The installations will be shifted to Terminal 91 for 2009.
• Los Angeles — The port is having a cruise berth fitted with shore power for fall 2008. Princess Cruises’ ships are already fitted for shore power, and Norwegian Cruise Line’s Norwegian Star, with new shipboard equipment, will plug in.
After a legal challenge, Los Angeles installed shore power at China Shipping’s Terminal 100 in 2004, using a barge. In 2006 Yusen Terminals was fitted with shore power for NYK ships, beginning with the NYK Atlas. These use shipboard cables on reels lowered from the main deck and plugged into receptacles installed in pits.
Los Angeles also continues to press strongly for shore power under its AMP (Alterative Maritime Power) program, with Evergreen Line next in line.
• Long Beach — The port is also pressing for shore power, recently adding shore power to Berth 121 for BP tankers.
•Vancouver — At the port, Princess and HAL are working on shore power for two berths at Canada Place cruise terminal for 2009. The Vancouver program is expected to cost about $7 million for the two berths. The cost for the berths at Vancouver is similar to estimates of $3 million to $3.5 million per berth in California, with an additional $300,000 per ship.
• San Diego and San Francisco — Both are planning shore power installations for their cruise terminals, again based on existing shipboard installations of Princess Cruises and Holland America ships.
• Tacoma — In May, Peter Keller, president of NYK Line North America Inc., told the Northwest Intermodal Conference that shore power will also be included in the line’s new Tacoma terminal.
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