COSCO SHIPPING Taurus is the first vessel to be operated with shore power during successful ship integration test at HHLA Container Terminal Tollerort in Hamburg, Germany, marking a milestone for COSCO SHIPPING and HHLA on their joint way to achieve the goal of carbon neutrality 

The shore power system at HHLA Container Terminal Tollerort  has successfully proven itself in practice for the first time. At the Hamburger Hafen und Logistik AG  terminal, COSCO SHIPPING Taurus was supplied with shore power for the first time as part of a ship integration test this week.

COSCO SHIPPING Taurus, like all more recent COSCO SHIPPING vessels, is equipped with the integrated technical components for shore power supply. The system and process for Hamburg have now been successfully tested by the project partners HPA, Siemens, COSCO SHIPPING and HHLA.

“For 40 years, the shipping company COSCO SHIPPING has been linked to the Tollerort terminal through a successful business relationship. With our recent vessels, which are all already equipped with the integrated technical components for shore power supply, and shore power finally becoming available at CTT, COSCO SHIPPING and HHLA are on our way to achieve the goal of carbon neutrality, to fulfil the new requirements of the International Maritime Organization’s MARPOL Convention relating to the “International Shipping Regulations on Carbon Intensity”, reduce greenhouse gas emissions from vessels at berth, build a green and low-carbon supply chain, and protect the earth’s ecological environment”, said Mingfeng Wang, President COSCO SHIPPING (Europe) GmbH.

Angela Titzrath, Chairwoman of HHLA’s Executive Board: “Shore-side power stations at HHLA’s terminals in Hamburg are an important contribution towards the decarbonisation of the port and the logistics chain. We are pleased that the shore-side power stations at our terminals have been established, making it possible to reliably supply shore-side electricity to our customers’ ships equipped for that technology. This makes the Port of Hamburg a pioneer within Europe.”

The shore power facility at the CTT is located at the mega-ship berth where the world’s largest container ships can be handled. Special cables are located at the quay edge to connect the container ship to the shore power system. Like her sister ships, COSCO SHIPPING Taurus features the electrotechnical components and cables to take in the electricity supplied from shore – from renewable sources, of course. As the grid voltage and frequency on land are different from the onboard voltage and frequency, these are adapted to the ship’s needs on land by means of converters and transformers. This ensures compatibility between the system and the ship. As soon as the ship is supplied with shore power, the ship’s diesel engines can be switched off, which significantly reduces greenhouse gas and pollutant emissions during the berthing period.