Air pollution control regulations are being extended in the US state of California and its ports. The shipping company NYK, therefore, wants to capture the emissions from car carriers at the berth.
The California Air Resources Board (CARB), a state government commission of California, had already issued emission regulations for ocean-going vessels in 2007. Since 2014, ocean-going container ships, passenger ships and other ships calling at Californian ports have had to reduce their emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx), reactive gases (ROG), carbon dioxide, particulate matter (PM) and diesel particulate matter (DPM) while in port. In 2025, car transporters and tankers are also to be included in this regulation. [ds_preview]
Shipping companies affected by the regulation will soon have to have solutions ready. The Japanese shipping company NYK has now reached an agreement with Stax Engineering, a US company specialising in capturing emissions in maritime transport. From January 2025, Stax technology will be used to capture exhaust fumes at berth from car carriers calling at ports in the US state of California.
The technology for capturing and controlling exhaust gases involves connecting a ship’s smokestack with a hose and pipe to an exhaust gas cleaning system on a barge or on land. In this way, the exhaust gases are extracted without escaping into the air, and no additional systems need to be installed on the ship.
According to a statement from the shipping company, “NYK plans to use this technology to provide exhaust capture services for NYK-operated car carriers at major ports in California. The total amount of potential payments between NYK and Stax is $16 million.”
