APL Sets Air-Quality Plan for California
lobal container firm APL Monday announced major initiatives to improve California’s air quality, including testing new marine technologies to reduce emissions from ocean vessels.
The world’s eighth-largest container carrier, APL said teamed with the California Air Resources Board, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach and four California air quality management boards to test a new fuel emulsification technology.
That technology could reduce nitrogen oxide emissions from vessels by as much as 20% and become a shipping industry standard, the company said.
In addition, APL said it has begun using cleaner-burning, low-sulfur diesel fuel in the auxiliary engines of its 23 vessels regularly calling the ports of Los Angeles and Oakland, Calif. Those vessels use low-sulfur fuel in their auxiliary engines, which provide power to the ships when they are in port.
Taken together, the initiatives are expected to have long-term air quality benefits for coastal communities by reducing exhaust from ocean-going container ships, the company said.
APL is the parent company of APL Logistics, which is ranked No. 6 on the Transport Topics Logistics 50 listing of U.S. and Canadian logistics companies.
