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Power plug-ins for visiting cruise ships scrapped

The idea of installing electrical plug-ins for cruise ships visiting Victoria has been scrapped now that stricter Canadian and U.S. environmental rules are coming in.
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The Greater Victoria Harbour Authority has scrapped the idea of installing electrical plug-ins for cruise ships visiting Victoria.

The idea of installing electrical plug-ins for cruise ships visiting Victoria has been scrapped now that stricter Canadian and U.S. environmental rules are coming in.

Instead of backing a multimillion-dollar shore power system at Ogden Point, the Greater Victoria Harbour Authority will rely on stiffer government regulations that have been imposed in recent years to reduce ship pollution.

“Industry commitments to clean fuel and on-board scrubber technology have eclipsed shore power as a viable air-quality strategy for Victoria,” said harbour authority president and CEO Curtis Grad.

Clean air has long been an issue in James Bay, where residents have complained about emissions from visiting ships and from related transportation, such as shuttle buses.

To meet today’s standards, ships are already or will be using fuel with less sulphur dioxide and-or installing scrubbers, an on-board technology to clean emissions before they enter the atmosphere.

Shore power is best suited for home ports, where ships berth, rather than a briefer port-of-call like Victoria, Grad said. Vessels arriving in Victoria are here for the short term. It is when they are manoeuvring in and out of port using their engines that the higher sulphur dioxide levels can occur.

A consultant’s 2011 feasibility study into shore power, prepared for the harbour authority, mapped out three options, with the least costly at about $9 million.

“Over the past year, the main cruise lines calling in Victoria have announced their commitment to install scrubbers on many of their ships,” a harbour authority statement said.

The issue has led to air-quality monitors being installed in James Bay. Grad said readings indicate emissions have hit high levels only a few times during every five-month cruise season.

In the meantime, the James Bay Neighbourhood Association is urging the harbour authority to introduce ship scheduling changes in 2015 and 2016 to try to keep emissions down until scrubbers are in place on ships.

Association president Marg Gardiner said emissions spiked May 9 and again since then, creating discomfort in the community.

Residents with respiratory problems are especially vulnerable, she said.

Although she said she doesn’t have respiratory problems, Gardiner said she was awake coughing until 3 a.m. during one period with high emissions.

The association is recommending that arrival times of cruise ships be staggered to reduce cumulative emissions from ships and transportation.

It also wants only one ship without a scrubber to be in port at any one time, Gardiner said.

This year 207 cruise ship visits are scheduled at Ogden Point, carrying about 450,000 passengers and crew.

cjwilson@timescolonist.com