First-ever electric ship plug-in at port of LA

The Chinese containership Xin Yang Zhou has become the first vessel to ?plug? into the world’s first Alternative Maritime Power (AMP) container terminal at the port of Los Angeles. The China Shipping Company, the first ocean carrier calling at the port to utilize the new energy technology, operates the terminal. Six other shipping companies have reportedly signed memoranda of understanding to study the use of AMP at their terminals. AMP technology involves fitting-out a wharf with electricity, in this case by the Los Angeles department of Water and Power (LADWP), and converting it to a voltage compatible to the ship through a transformer, and then ?plugging-in? the ship allowing it to use clean electrical power rather than its diesel-powered engine while it is being loaded and unloaded. According to the LADWP, AMP removes more than one ton of NOx and 40 kg of particulate matter from the air each day a ship is ?plugged-in?.