Cruise Ships Plug In to Shore Power at Port of Seattle

New equipment that allows two of the nine cruise ships calling at the Port of Seattle this season to plug into shore power means the vessels can turn their engines off while docked, reducing cruise ship air emissions by about 30 percent.

"Seattle is one of just two ports in North America with shore power capability for cruise ships," said Port of Seattle Commission President Bob Edwards. "The reduction in emissions is equal to taking 1,100 cars of the road for a full year."

Offering shore power is possible in Seattle because Princess Cruises invested $1.8 million to build the Diamond Princess and Sapphire Princess with that capability and because Seattle City Light was willing to work with Princess and the Port to bring power to the terminal. City Light's capital costs were offset in part by a $50,000 grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

"The cooperation and leadership shown by Princess and Seattle City Light is a credit to both organizations," Edwards said. "The Port of Seattle is glad to have them as partners."

The Puget Sound region already meets federal air quality standards and the shore power project is just one of several initiatives the Port is involved with that are designed to help protect air quality. Most of the cruise ships calling at the Port have agreed to use low sulfur fuel while docked and the Port's own seaport maintenance vehicles have switched to low sulfur diesel. At Sea-Tac airport the Port has built a natural gas fueling station that provides fuel for many of the Port's own fleet vehicles and is open to other operators of natural gas fueled vehicles. Biodiesel is available to recreational boaters at the Port's Shilshole Bay Marina.

The Port also is leading an effort to conduct a maritime air emissions inventory that will identify the sources and nature of emissions generated by the maritime industry. Partners in the inventory include the Port of Tacoma, Port of Everett, Port of Olympia, Washington State Ferries, Puget Sound Clean Air Agency and 19 other public and private entities.

"The Port is working with a wide range of partners on multiple fronts to protect the region's air quality," Edwards said. "We've also taken steps to protect Puget Sound's water quality with an agreement that limits the discharge of wastewater from cruise ships."

The cruise ship wastewater agreement, implemented in April 2004, established a new inspection and verification program that gives Washington the cruise industry strongest wastewater discharge rules in the country.