Princess Cruises plans to tap into the
local power source while docked in Los Angeles beginning in 2008
and has signed an agreement to turn off the engines on its vessels
and "plug in" to the city's electrical power.
The shore power
agreement is part of the Port of Los Angeles' Alternative Maritime
Power Program, Princess said, that will have ships plug into shore
power, which enables them to turn off their diesel engines and
connect to electric power that travels to the ship from a specially
designed transformer, resulting in cleaner air emissions. Princess
said this shore-based electricity will run all onboard services
during the day-long calls.
The capability in
Los Angeles will be available for use in 2008, and the technology
is already available on the Princess ships which will call there.
The project is similar to programs Princess debuted in Juneau,
Alaska, in 2001 and in Seattle in 2005, the cruise line
said.
For this technology
to work, Princess has outfitted its ships with a custom-built
electrical connection cabinet that automatically connects the
ship's electrical network to the local electrical network onshore.
The electrical power is transmitted from the landside transformer
to the vessel via flexible electrical cables. The actual cable
connection on the vessel is a traditional, though quite large,
male/female plug and socket, Princess said.
Princess said that
in November 2006, the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, Calif.,
approved the Clean Air Action Plan, which is designed to improve
air quality in the South Coast Air Basin. The five-year plan for
the ports is designed to significantly reduce the health risks
posed by air pollution from port-related ships, trains, trucks,
terminal equipment and harbor craft.
To
contact the reporter who wrote this article, send e-mail to Johanna
Jainchill at [email protected].