Los Angeles and Nagoya ports to establish green shipping corridor

The ports of Los Angeles and Nagoya have signed a new Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to broaden cooperation on sustainability and operational efficiency initiatives, including green shipping corridor between the two ports.

As informed, the port authorities also joined forces to work on  port community systems and digital supply chain information sharing, zero-emission vehicle and equipment testing.

The MoU will involve exchange of knowledge and practices  on issues of operational efficiencies, such as the development, deployment and promotion of port community systems for end-to-end supply chain information sharing.

These include the Port Optimizer that has been in use at the Port of Los Angeles since 2017, and has helped revolutionize the port’s ability to plan, forecast and track cargo on a real-time basis.

Furthermore, both ports agreed to continue collaborating on the development and testing of zero-emission vehicles and equipment; environmental initiatives focused on terminal operations, ships in port and drayage trucks; and on energy use and alternative energy sources.

The partners emphasized that central to sustainability efforts in the agreement will be the establishment of a new green shipping corridor in the coming years, guided by a port decarbonization plan.

This endeavor will focus on the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from cargo movement between Nagoya and Los Angeles, and encourage the use and promotion of low and zero-carbon ships and fuels.

To remind, Nagoya port recently hosted a demonstrative test for biodiesel fuel of K Line’s tugboat Aihomaru. The  fuel supply vessel (bunkering vessel) supplied marine biofuel to Aihomaru using a ship-to-ship method, with the aim of verifying that there is no hindrance to the series of ship operations and reducing CO2 emissions in operation.

“This agreement paves the way to advance environmental sustainability and operational efficiencies at both of our ports,” said Yuji Kamata, Executive Vice President of the Nagoya Port Authority.

“We look forward to further cooperation with the Port of Los Angeles so that both ports can further prosper as we move toward a new era of achieving carbon neutrality.”

Cooperation between Los Angeles and Nagoya dates back to 1959, when the two cities established a Sister City Affiliation as part of President Eisenhower’s Citizens’ International Exchange Program. The ports also signed a MoU in 2020 to work on sustainability and similar strategies.