The global fleet of vessels on the oceans, seas, lakes and rivers, consists of 120,000 merchant vessels. Of this fleet, 4.64% or 5,517 ships are container ships, while 12.03% or 14,309 ships are oil and chemical tankers.
Before I talk about clean ports, let’s talk about aviation. In aviation, it’s common that when you park an airplane at the gate, a ground technician connects a large power source to the airplane. Once connected, it becomes the airplane’s lifeline of electricity from the ground source to power all aircraft systems. There’s no need to run separate generators on the airplane, which are powered by a small jet engine in the tail. This action helps keep the air at airports clean. The connector is the same at airports in Amsterdam, Dubai, Shanghai, and Los Angeles. This is the power of standardization and the luxury of having just a few aircraft manufacturers.
It is different in shipping. For many years, there was little awareness of the need to contribute to cleaner air. But the situation is changing rapidly. Everyone is becoming aware of the importance of addressing air quality in ports. Currently, large vessels run big diesel engines to power generators and produce the electricity needed for the ship. And a lot of electricity is required. One container ship might have an electrical demand of 4,000 kWh. That’s a significant amount. For a 10-hour port stay, such a vessel would need as much electricity as 100 average four-person households consume in a year. That’s a staggering number, and if this energy is generated by diesel, it results in a great deal of pollution. Now multiply this by the number of ships and you’ll end up with a headache even thinking about all the carbon monoxide produced.
No wonder many engineering companies are advocating for something called shore power. This is a huge task because, as mentioned earlier, there are 120,000 vessels, all of which will need a socket to connect to a shore power source. At the berth where the ship docks, there will need to be a “powerhouse” with a cable and connector. We’ve just defined the interface. But that’s only part of the story. On the ship side, there must be an entire electrical installation capable of accepting and using the electricity. It can either be used directly in the ship’s network, or to charge the ship’s batteries. On the port side, there needs to be a sufficient connection to the grid to supply that amount of energy. The large cable and connector at the port can be connected to the grid or to a battery capable of providing the necessary energy.
There’s one tiny detail: vessels operate globally, and therefore, at every port and every berth, the same type of connector must be available. Similarly, every one of those 120,000 ships must have the same type of receptacle (socket). We don’t want to travel from Rotterdam to Shanghai only to discover that our ship cannot be connected at the berth in Shanghai. Clearly, there is an urgent need for standardization. Without standardization, there will be no clean air in the ports. It’s as simple as that. We can’t force operators to carry dozens of adapter cables to be able to connect at various ports. Here’s a list of the most important standards:
• IEC 62613-2 and IEC 60309-5 regulate plugs, socket outlets, and couplers, ensuring compatibility and interchangeability.
• IEC 80005-3 regulates a low-voltage solution for all vessels requiring up to 1 MW shore power, such as bulkers or offshore vessels. In this case, the installation must be approved by a classification society. This is not a light bulb in the kitchen — we’re talking about one megawatt of power. It is essential to ensure that the installation is thoroughly inspected and safe. With such a high amount of energy, any mishandling can cause serious damage or even loss of life. “Safety first” is the most important rule in engineering.
• IEC 80005-1 describes a high-voltage solution for container ships, RoRo vessels, cruise ships, LNG carriers and tankers. This standard can also be applied to pure car/truck carriers and RoPax vessels, such as ferries and superyachts.
For those unfamiliar with the IEC, the International Electrotechnical Commission is an organization that is 120 years old, based in Geneva, Switzerland. It develops and publishes international standards for all electrical, electronic and related technologies. The standards cover power generation, transmission and distribution to home appliances and office equipment, semiconductors, fiber optics, batteries, solar energy, nanotechnology and marine energy.
These global standards mean that you, as manufacturer, can invest in supplying any or all shore power components and be confident that, wherever in the world your vessel travels, it can find a port to plug into. A final thought: standards define functionality and interfaces. How you reach those standards is up to your engineering skills and creativity. You can design and build the required devices in the most efficient way, provided you respect the standards mentioned above and, most importantly, ensure safety.
Marijan Jozic began his career with KLM Royal Dutch Airlines in 1980 and has worked in avionics engineering for more than 40 years. Currently, he serves as global director of business development at OctonX, the official affiliate of SAE ITC and is involved in mobility and became involved in the maritime industry. Jozic has published several books: the most recent was published by SAE in 2023 and is called “Aviation Engineering: Navigating Through the Golden Years.”