Hong Kong Sulphur Switch to Cut Harmful Emissions by 60%

A new regulation under which ocean going vessels are required to switch to marine fuels with less than 0.5% sulphur content while at berth in Hong Kong waters is expected to reduce the levels of SO2 and respirable suspended particulates by more than 60%, according to Hong Kong’s Secretary for the Environment, Wong Kam-sing.

The regulation, coming into effect as of July 1, will help to reduce the air pollution caused by container vessels to the surrounding areas, especially in the vicinity of the the Kwai Chung Container Terminals (KCCT), Wong said.

Moreover, the operators of the KCCTs have been progressively replacing their diesel-driven gantry cranes with the hybrid or electric ones in recent years so as to reduce the air pollutants emitted by these machines while they are in operation.

At present, 90% of the gantry cranes at the KCCTs are driven by hybrid system or electricity. The Environmental Protection Department also implemented a regulation with effect from June 1 this year to regulate emissions from non-road mobile machinery, including those being used in the KCCTs.

According the information provided by terminal operators of the KCCTs, they currently have no plan to install the onshore power supply (OPS) facilities as the space is limited at the KCCTs and few container vessels in the world are equipped with OPS connection facilities.