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UK Chamber of Shipping urges greater shore power across British ports

The UK Chamber of Shipping has urged the British government to catch up with shore power for ports and ships, something the country lags behind many other nations.

Currently only two British ports are equipped with shore power facilities; Orkney and Southampton. A report last year also found the US, Canada, Norway and Sweden have more than double the UK’s shore power facilities, while China has the kit installed at 50 ports.

Sarah Treseder, CEO of the UK Chamber of Shipping, said: “The UK is 20 years behind on shore power. Catching up now requires a clear and targeted regulatory framework to drive adoption across our fleets and ports. The government has shown it is prepared to back our industry in developing new solutions for our net zero transition. It must also act fast to back deployment of green solutions like shore power, which are already tried, tested and trusted.”

The UK Chamber has suggested that in the future ships that don’t plug into electric shore power technology at ports should pay a compliance fine with proceeds going towards establishing a new greenhouse gas fund, dedicated towards rolling out shore power across all UK ports and fleets.

“The use of shore power in ports can contribute to a substantial and quick cut in local air and noise pollution and help deliver the UK’s net zero target through lowering ships’ greenhouse gas emissions,” a release from the UK Chamber stated.

Sam Chambers

Starting out with the Informa Group in 2000 in Hong Kong, Sam Chambers became editor of Maritime Asia magazine as well as East Asia Editor for the world’s oldest newspaper, Lloyd’s List. In 2005 he pursued a freelance career and wrote for a variety of titles including taking on the role of Asia Editor at Seatrade magazine and China correspondent for Supply Chain Asia. His work has also appeared in The Economist, The New York Times, The Sunday Times and The International Herald Tribune.

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