ILWU Local 23 longshoremen Chris Hale and Joe Perrin are seen plugging in the cable, weighing 50 pounds per foot, that allows ships to get electricity from shore instead of emissions-producing generators. Click the image to read the full article in the News Tribune.
The TOTE trailership M.V. North Star Wednesday became the first cargo ship calling on Puget Sound to power its wharfside operations with municipal electricity.
The federal Environmental Protection Agency expects the shore power arrangement to eliminate 1.9 tons of diesel particulates and 1,360 tons of greenhouse gas emissions per year. The two ships make a total of 100 calls on the Port of Tacoma each year.
The ships are physically hooked to the grid via a 4-inch-thick cable draped down from an opening on the ship’s side. Two longshore workers are needed to maneuver the cable, which weighs about 50 pounds a foot, into a socket on the dock.