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WSJ: Neptune Orient's APL Switches To Cleaner-Burning Fuel
Dow Jones International News Service via Dow Jones
By Daniel Machalaba
OF THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
Container shipping company APL said it has begun using cleaner-burning, low-sulfur diesel fuel when its ships are in California ports and is preparing to test new engine technologies that could further cut pollution from its ships.
The moves by the unit of Singapore-based Neptune Orient Lines appear aimed at getting APL out in front of new antipollution measures being adopted by the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, Calif. The two largest container shipping ports in the U.S. are implementing a harborwide plan to reduce emissions 45% to 55% over the next five years. Fierce environmental and community opposition to increased pollution from the ports has slowed or stalled expansion of docks, terminals, roads and rail lines to keep up with the onslaught of cargo from Asia.
APL said it has started using low-sulfur diesel fuel in the auxiliary engines of its 23 ships that regularly dock in Los Angeles and Oakland, Calif. Auxiliary engines provide power to ships when they are in port. APL also plans a three-year, $1.3 million demonstration project aboard its container ship APL Singapore to test new technologies that promise to cut emissions.
"We have a responsibility to address the impact we have on the environment," John Bowe, president of APL in the Americas, said in a statement.
(This story and related background material will be available on The Wall Street Journal Web site, WSJ.com.)
The comprehensive plan by the two big ports could cost about $2 billion, and require using lower-sulfur fuels on ocean-going vessels and vessel speed reductions to cut down on emissions. The most costly part of the plan is the replacement of about 16,000 older polluting trucks that frequently call at the ports to pick up or drop off containers. So far, the ports have lined up only a small share of the $2 billion.
While APL says its vessels are using cleaner-burning diesel fuel while in docked in California, the antipollution plan for the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach would require ships at dock to eventually plug into special electrical systems rather than run their diesel engines.
Nonetheless, Arley Baker, a spokesman for the port of Los Angeles, welcomed APL's actions. "The fact that they are exploring new, cleaner emissions technologies is a very positive step in the direction we want our customers to take," he said.
APL said that the APL Singapore is being retrofitted with equipment to inject water into the fuel burned in the ship's main engine to cut emissions of nitrogen oxide, which can cause smog and ozone. The ship's engine will also be equipped with special valves and a lubricating system that could further cut pollution from exhaust, the company said.
If such pollution-reducing technologies are effective and not harmful to the marine engines, APL said it could retrofit other ships with the equipment.
-By Daniel Machalaba, Of The Wall Street Journal; daniel.machalaba@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
04-12-06 2240GMT
Copyright (c) 2006 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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