German Container Shipping Line Makes a Start on Cutting Pollution in Latin America

GERMANY – LATIN AMERICA – With emissions from cargo ships a big health concern for people living close to ports, Hamburg Süd and its Swedish customer Electrolux have decided to expand a pilot project to reduce pollution from high levels of sulphur oxides (SOx) in port areas. During layovers in Manzanillo (Mexico), Callao (Peru), Iquique and, Puerto Angamos (Chile) between March 11th and 24th, the 7,114 TEU Santa Catarina used cleaner marine gas oil (MGO) instead of standard heavy fuel oil (HFO) to operate its auxiliary engines and boilers.

Without this voluntary change to the cleaner marine gas oil, the vessel would otherwise have been burning heavy fuel oil while moored. Ports in North America and Europe already require vessels to use the cleaner marine gas oil but such a switch is not mandatory at the ports in question, in Mexico, Peru and Chile. Bjorn Vang Jensen, Vice President, Global Logistics at Electrolux, commented:

“Sulphur dioxide emissions are a major environmental issue in some of the communities around port cities where we ship our products. With this partnership, we are showing how the industry can move faster than legislation to improve the air quality in ports, and we hope more companies will get on board. This will support our ambition to improve the environmental footprint in the transportation chain, which is one of the goals in Electrolux sustainability strategy ‘For the Better’.”

Hamburg Süd and Electrolux have already carried out a fuel upgrade in the past, thereby making a contribution to environmental and health protection. Due to the significantly lower sulphur content of MGO, the sulphur dioxide emissions for the Electrolux cargo in question will decrease by over 95%. The project is being financed by both companies. While Electrolux is bearing the additional costs for the MGO, Hamburg Süd is assuming the extra operative expenses related to planning and switching fuels. Dr. Arnt Vespermann, CEO of Hamburg Süd, said:

“When it comes to sustainability, reducing emissions in the interest of environmental protection plays an important role for Hamburg Süd. With this project, we are showing at the same time that Hamburg Süd is employing innovative solutions to meet the unique desires of our customers, in collaboration with them.”