Holland America’s entire fleet fitted with shore power
US-based cruise line Holland America has completed shore power installation across its entire fleet.
PHOTO: Holland America’s cruise ship Volendam. VesselFinder
Holland America recently installed a shore power system on its cruise ship, Volendam, thus completing shore power installation on all its eleven ships.
The installation was carried out in Vancouver, Canada and the cruise ship was connected to the port’s shoreside electricity for the first full day last month.
The cruise company equipped four of its ships to utilise shore power in 2006. Meanwhile, three of its ships were built already equipped with shore power systems. The other two ships were launched with partial installation, which has been completed.
“Shore power works by plugging the ship into a dockside source, and the power source enables the ship to run all electrical equipment on board without using the ship’s engines,” Holland America says.
The company utilises shore power to reduce emissions and noise in port.
Holland America can connect to shore power in more than 18 worldwide currently. These include Juneau, New York, San Francisco, San Diego, and Seattle in the US, Halifax, Montreal, and Vancouver in Canada, Bergen, Ålesund, and Kristiansand in Norway, Kiel in Germany, and Shanghai and Xiamen in China.
More than 25 additional ports are “actively constructing shore power facilities or investigating the option to do so,” including the Port of Rotterdam which is expected to be shore power-ready in 2024, Holland America adds.
“We look forward to more global ports embracing shore power capability in the future and are ready to work with them to connect,” Holland America’s president Gus Antorcha says.
Shore power or “cold ironing” has been gaining traction across port operators and ship operators globally to reduce emissions while a ship is berthed.
According to the classification society DNV, there are currently 118 facilities across ports globally offering shore power to vessels, with 47 more planned and four under discussion.
By Tuhin Roy
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