Last month, Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha (NYK) announced that it will deploy 38 ships of its container vessel fleet with Alternative Maritime Power (AMP) technology over the next few years at a cost of $22 million. The Panamax and post-Panamax vessels (ships that are able or not able to traverse the Panama Canal due to their size) range from 4,800 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) to 8,600 TEUs.
Following the lead of the NYK ATLAS, the first NYK vessel built from the keel up to utilize AMP, 20 new ships currently on order will be delivered with AMP capability. In addition, 17 ships presently in service will be retrofitted with AMP technology during regularly scheduled inspections.
The first ship to be retrofitted will be the NYK APOLLO which will enter dry dock in November of this year. The company expects to have more than thirty of the AMP capable vessels in service by the end of 2009.
The NYK ATLAS presently operates between Asia and the West Coast of North America. The vessel is currently participating in AMP testing at NYKs terminal at the Port of Los Angeles (POLA) which is managed by Yusen Terminals, Inc. The Yusen terminal at POLA uses a 6.6 kV substation to provide AMP.
AMP is one of the key elements of a Clean Air Action Plan developed by the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. AMP technology allows a vessel to shut down the onboard diesel power generators while at berth and connect directly to shore-side electrical power. Utilizing shore power while at dockside significantly reduces and almost eliminates the vessels emissions, including CO2, NOx, SOx and PM.
In addition to the AMP technology, eight of the 8,600 TEU containerships that NYK currently has on order will be equipped with electronically controlled engines to further reduce air emissions and leak-preventing hulls to protect the marine environment.
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