NYC Council mandates shore power use for docked cruise ships

The New York City (NYC) Council has passed a bill with a majority vote to mandate cruise ships to use shore power facilities when docked at the city’s terminals.

PHOTO: Cape Liberty cruise port looking over New York City and the Statue of Liberty. Getty Images

Cruise ships with shore power capability can turn the engines off and plug into electrical grid power while stationary. This will help in limiting harmful emissions at terminals and reducing the terminal’s carbon footprint, the council said.

The mandate also requires the NYC Economic Development Corporation (EDC) to update community traffic mitigation plans around each terminal, in consultation with the US Department of Transportation (DoT), and the New York Police Department (NYPD), the council said.

“The bill intends to reduce emissions from ships at berth while addressing community impacts through traffic mitigation plans,” the NYC Council said.

Shore-to-ship power or “cold ironing” is an electrical power supply provided to ships when they are docked at ports. Instead of running the engines onboard to power essential systems while docked at ports, shore power facilities allow ships to connect to the local electrical grid.

This helps in the reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and particulate matter. It also cuts down on noise pollution in port areas caused by heavy machinery and generators.

By Aparupa Mazumder 

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