Mediterranean Shipping Company’s MSC Jewel, the cleanest container ship to visit the US, called at the Port of Long Beach last month.
The vessel, which is 1,200ft long and has a capacity of 14,436 TEUs, was built in 2019 and is powered by Tier III diesel engines, which are 75 per cent cleaner than the Tier II standard set by the International Maritime Organization.
Tracy Egoscue, president of the Long Beach Harbor Commission, hailed the visit as a milestone for the port.
“Tier III ships just started entering the global fleet. The Clean Air Action Plan Update we passed two years ago identified strategies to accelerate the timeline by which we would start to see these cleaner ships calling at our port,” she said.
“The Port of Long Beach is known for its commitment to operational excellence, and part of that is leading the industry into the future with our environmental initiatives,” said the port’s executive director Mario Cordero.
“MSC runs our largest terminal, one of the most productive in North America. We couldn’t be prouder of our partnership with them and the example this sets for other ports.”
All MSC vessels calling at California ports are shore-power equipped, allowing them to plug into the landside electrical grid to further reduce emissions when berthed.
MSC and other carriers can also take advantage of one of several environment-based incentive programmes created by the port to encourage cleaner operations.
