Alaska Tanker, OOCL have 100% green record
Alaska Tanker Company LLC. and Orient Overseas Container Line Ltd. (OOCL) took top honours at a Green Flag award ceremony at the Port of Long Beach yesterday, the port authority has announced.
The tanker operator and container shipping company posted 100% compliance in 2006 with the port's vessel speed reduction scheme, part of the Green Port Policy.
"When we approved the Green Port Policy in 2005, we challenged the maritime industry to change their practices to be more environmentally friendly," said Harbor Commission President James C. Hankla. "These shipping lines here today have answered that call."
The voluntary vessel speed reduction scheme calls for ships to slow below 12 knots within 20 nm of the port. When it was approved in 2005, the port made $2.2 million available in reduced dockage fees as an incentive.
In February, the port said that compliance rates with the scheme rose to 82% in 2006 and that 120 shipowners achieved 90% or above compliance rates to qualify for the reduced fees in 2007.
Alaska Tanker and OOCL just hedged out K-line with 99% compliance, and Hanjin Shipping and Mediterranean Shipping Co. with 97%.
There were 53 vessel calls by Alaska Tanker vessels in 2006, compared to 61 by OOCL, 173 for K-Line, 206 for Hanjin, and 128 for Mediterranean Shipping, according to port figures.
Parent company BP Shipping received Green Flags for its Alaska Tanker vessels last year for 100% compliance with the scheme, and two of its Alaska-class tankers have been modified to cold iron in Long Beach when shoreside infrastructure is completed later this year.
The tanker operator and container shipping company posted 100% compliance in 2006 with the port's vessel speed reduction scheme, part of the Green Port Policy.
"When we approved the Green Port Policy in 2005, we challenged the maritime industry to change their practices to be more environmentally friendly," said Harbor Commission President James C. Hankla. "These shipping lines here today have answered that call."
The voluntary vessel speed reduction scheme calls for ships to slow below 12 knots within 20 nm of the port. When it was approved in 2005, the port made $2.2 million available in reduced dockage fees as an incentive.
In February, the port said that compliance rates with the scheme rose to 82% in 2006 and that 120 shipowners achieved 90% or above compliance rates to qualify for the reduced fees in 2007.
Alaska Tanker and OOCL just hedged out K-line with 99% compliance, and Hanjin Shipping and Mediterranean Shipping Co. with 97%.
There were 53 vessel calls by Alaska Tanker vessels in 2006, compared to 61 by OOCL, 173 for K-Line, 206 for Hanjin, and 128 for Mediterranean Shipping, according to port figures.
Parent company BP Shipping received Green Flags for its Alaska Tanker vessels last year for 100% compliance with the scheme, and two of its Alaska-class tankers have been modified to cold iron in Long Beach when shoreside infrastructure is completed later this year.