Ports across Europe and the world are increasingly seeing shore power as a highly effective way to reduce emissions from ships in port. The problem of ship emissions in ports has intensified in the wake of the pandemic, as cruise ships that previously stayed in ports for a matter of hours or days, stay at the same berths continually running their conventionally-powered engines, thereby increasing emissions of hazardous chemicals and particulate matter.

One port where this has become an urgent issue, with large numbers of cruise ships berthing for extended periods, is the Port of Marseille, France’s largest port.

Dominique Robin, Director of Atmosud – a government agency that monitors air quality in the south of France – told local investigative news outlet Marsactu recently that maritime traffic had generated twice the amount of pollution during lockdown than normal.

According to Atmosud calculations, cruise ships in particular emitted almost six times more pollution in Marseille during lockdown than prior to the pandemic.

To reduce harmful emissions and provide cleaner future for the inhabitants and visitors, Port of Marseille is taking actions. Under its Ship-to-Shore Power Supply (CENAQ) initiative, the Port of Marseille was the first port in France to provide shore power, for a ferry service connecting Marseille with the island of Corsica, in 2017.

Shore power – pioneered by Cavotec in the 1980s – enables ships to connect to electrical supply while berthed at port, thereby enabling their engines to be switched off, reducing emissions of harmful chemicals and particulate matter.

Cavotec has worked closely with Marseille on their shore power journey. We have provided onboard junction boxes for La Meridionale vessels cruising between mainland France and Corsica and developed a radio remote control system that enables ships’ crews to connect ships to electrical power easily.

Cavotec have also supplied four PowerReach systems, for La Meridionale and Corsica Linea berths. PowerReach meets all relevant international Shore Connection standards and features a customized height and arm length to reach electrical connection points of the different vessels.

Working together with customers, and applying our engineering expertise in ShorePower technologies, we have the opportunity to address the immediate challenges created by the pandemic and in the longer term, make the changes necessary to decarbonize the global ports sector.