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Terminal Infrastructure: Lake Charles, Oakland

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The Port of Lake Charles recently installed a new ship unloader crane at its Bulk Terminal No. 1 (BT-1), with an eye to boosting the facility’s cargo capacity and efficiency. The Port of Oakland celebrated the completion of construction of its shore power infrastructure with a ceremony on November 8. 

Lake Charles Adds New Ship Unloader Crane to Bulk Terminal

The Port of Lake Charles recently installed a new ship unloader crane at its Bulk Terminal No. 1 (BT-1), with an eye to boosting the facility’s cargo capacity and efficiency. BT-1 now has two unloaders that can operate at the same time. For example, during cargo discharge operations, one crane will be used to place material onto a conveyor belt, while the other is simultaneously unloading the cargo directly from ship to truck.

"This project was uncommon in that 90 percent of the crane and its components are being manufactured and constructed in the United States, because most of manufacturers for this type of crane are overseas," said Donald Brinkman, the port’s director of port engineering. "Even more exciting is that the ship unloader was fabricated right here in Louisiana."

The crane is approximately 174 feet tall and weighs approximately 900 tons. The total project cost was an estimated $14 million. The ship unloader was fully assembled and tested at the Port of Iberia before being shipped by barge to Lake Charles.

The new ship unloader at the Port of Lake Charles.
Photo/Port of Lake Charles

Oakland Completes Construction of Shore Power Infrastructure

The Port of Oakland celebrated the completion of construction of its shore power infrastructure with a ceremony on November 8. In 2008, the California Air Resources Board adopted a regulation to require reductions of air pollutants from ocean-going vessels. This regulation, commonly referred to as the "shore power regulation," requires that all operators of container, passenger and refrigerated cargo vessels that visit California ports more than 25 times a year employ an emission reduction system for their fleet by January 1, 2014. 

Shore power at the Port of Oakland is a two-phase, multi-year program covering 11 berths on six terminals. Phase one included infrastructure (substations, plugs, conduit, etc.) for three berths at the Oakland International Container Terminal – OICT (operated by SSAT), as well as common infrastructure that serves multiple terminals. Phase one is complete.

Phase two is the larger phase (eight berths) and includes additional infrastructure installations at the OICT terminal, as well as shore power installations at the Ben E. Nutter (Evergreen), Howard, and TraPac terminals. Phase two construction of the port’s shore power infrastructure is complete. Additionally, two port’s tenants, American President Lines (APL) and PAOH, received grants for their own shore power installations at three additional berths. Shore power installation at the former GGC/APL Terminal (now operated by SSAT (Berths 60-63) was completed in 2011, and shore power construction is being completed at PAOH (Berth 24).

Since 2009, significant expenditures have taken place to install shore power infrastructure at the marine terminals. The port’s estimated project cost is approximately $60 million; the port and private sector combined estimated cost for just the shore-side infrastructure is approximately $70 million.

The Bay Area Air Quality Management District and U.S. Maritime Administration (MARAD) contributed $12.8 million to the port’s shore power project; up to an additional approximate $20 million was awarded to the port by the California Air Resources Board (CARB) and the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC)/Federal Highway Administration.

In addition to the port’s investment, shipping lines bear major additional costs associated with retrofitting the ocean-going vessels so that they can plug into shore power. 

Speaking at the ceremony, Port Board Second Vice President Earl S. Hamlin said: "We just completed an inventory of 2012 emissions to check on our progress, and we have already reduced maritime-related diesel particulate emissions by 70 percent. Today we mark another step in our ongoing commitment to clean air and healthy communities. With our shore power project, we expect to knock another 11 tons of diesel particulate matter out of the air. We thank all of our partners for helping us reach today’s milestone."
 

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