Shipping Line Acts for Cleaner Air at L.A. Harbor

Bucking the maritime industry, the largest shipping line in the world took a critical step Friday toward reducing air pollution in Los Angeles Harbor by vowing to use clean-burning, low-sulfur fuel in all its cargo vessels that call at California ports.

Officials for Maersk Inc., which operates the busiest container terminal in Los Angeles, also announced that the company has been testing new pollution controls for cargo ships that have the potential to greatly reduce nitrogen oxides, a key component of smog.

Cargo ships -- some of which discharge more exhaust per day than 12,000 cars -- are responsible for much of the air pollution in the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.

Largely unregulated, the world’s fleet of cargo vessels has emerged as a leading source of nitrogen oxides and sulfur oxides, which have been linked to global warming, respiratory illness and premature deaths.

“Protecting the environment where we live and work is a priority at Maersk,” said Gene Pentimonti, a senior vice president for the company. “This program will provide immediate benefits to the city of Los Angeles and the state of California at no cost to the taxpayer.”

Maersk plans to shift from dirty bunker fuel to low-sulfur fuel in all of its 37 cargo ships that serve California ports. Already, 70% of the company’s vessels are switching to the cleaner-burning fuel 24 miles from port.

Bunker fuel is a remnant of the refining process for gasoline and diesel fuel. With a sulfur content up to 3%, it is so dirty that its emissions can legally contain 3,000 times more sulfur than the fuel used in new diesel trucks.

In contrast, the sulfur content of the cleaner-burning fuel is 0.2%. Maersk, which is working with environmental engineers at UC Riverside, estimates that the change could reduce sulfur oxides by 92%, particulate matter by 73% and nitrogen oxides by 10%.

The world sulfur standard set by the International Maritime Organization is 4.5%, a limit critics view as useless because the average sulfur content of bunker fuel is about 3%. The maritime organization, which is composed of the world’s shipping nations, is considering a revision of its air pollution regulations this year.

Pentimonti said that low-sulfur fuel is about twice as expensive as bunker fuel and that the program has cost Maersk about $2 million to $3 million so far.

Along with the clean-fuel initiative, Maersk has outfitted one of its ships with catalytic converters that have removed up to 90% of nitrogen oxides during testing. Pentimonti said the system, which cost about $300,000 to install, is not ready for widespread application.

The International Maritime Organization’s current regulations call for a 30% reduction in nitrogen oxide from new ships or those being refitted with new engines.

Maersk’s voluntary actions represent a significant break with the maritime industry, which has been questioning the availability of low-sulfur fuel and the potential cost of outfitting cargo ships with emission-control technology.

Recently, shipping lines threatened to sue the California Air Resources Board after it adopted plans in April to regulate emissions from auxiliary engines, which are used on ships to generate electricity while in port.

“This raises the bar for everyone,” said Geraldine Knatz, director of the Port of Los Angeles. “Maersk has gone out and done this on its own without anyone forcing it upon them. It’s above and beyond what’s now being discussed.”

In the last several years, port officials, state regulators and environmental groups have been formulating plans to greatly improve air quality throughout the Los Angeles-Long Beach harbor complex, which handles more than 40% of the nation’s international trade.

They are especially concerned because cargo volumes in both ports are expected to double -- maybe triple -- in the next 20 years.

The proposals apply to auxiliary engines and heavy equipment powered by diesel engines, including trucks, cranes, cargo-handling vehicles, locomotives and small craft such as commercial fishing boats and charter vessels.

Maersk, which is part of A.P. Moller-Maersk in Denmark, announced its air pollution initiative during a news conference at Pier 400, the giant terminal it operates in Los Angeles Harbor.

Attending the event were Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, state Sen. Alan Lowenthal (D-Long Beach) many government officials and state air quality regulators.

“For the ports to grow appropriately and to be the gateway for the nation, we’ve got to grow green. We’ve got to grow smart,” Villaraigosa said. “By converting to cleaner fuels, Maersk is demonstrating bold leadership.”

Environmental groups, including the Coalition for Clean Air and the Natural Resources Defense Council, also praised Maersk’s efforts to lead the industry in controlling air pollution from ships.

“For five years, we had to sue the Port of Los Angeles to get any measures implemented,” said Julie Masters, an attorney for the natural resources group.

“Now, the biggest shipping line in world is stepping up to the plate and putting low-sulfur fuel in their main engines. Maersk is proving the naysayers wrong.”