Shipping Line Acts for Cleaner Air at L.A. Harbor

Officials for Maersk Inc., which operates the busiest container terminal in Los Angeles, also announced that the company has been testing new pollution controls for cargo ships that have the potential to greatly reduce nitrogen oxides, a key component of smog.

Cargo ships -- some of which discharge more exhaust per day than 12,000 cars -- are responsible for much of the air pollution in the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.

Largely unregulated, the world's fleet of cargo vessels has emerged as a leading source of nitrogen oxides and sulfur oxides, which have been linked to global warming, respiratory illness and premature deaths.

"Protecting the environment where we live and work is a priority at Maersk," said Gene Pentimonti, a senior vice president for the company. "This program will provide immediate benefits to the city of Los Angeles and the state of California at no cost to the taxpayer."

Maersk plans to shift from dirty bunker fuel to low-sulfur fuel in all of its 37 cargo ships that serve California ports. Already, 70% of the company's vessels are switching to the cleaner-burning fuel 24 miles from port.

Bunker fuel is a remnant of the refining process for gasoline and diesel fuel. With a sulfur content up to 3%, it is so dirty that its emissions can legally contain 3,000 times more sulfur than the fuel used in new diesel trucks.

In contrast, the sulfur content of the cleaner-burning fuel is 0.2%. Maersk, which is working with environmental engineers at UC Riverside, estimates that the change could reduce sulfur oxides by 92%, particulate matter by 73% and nitrogen oxides by 10%.

The world sulfur standard set by the International Maritime Organization is 4.5%, a limit critics view as useless because the average sulfur content of bunker fuel is about 3%. The maritime organization, which is composed of the world's shipping nations, is considering a revision of its air pollution regulations this year.

Pentimonti said that low-sulfur fuel is about twice as expensive as bunker fuel and that the program has cost Maersk about $2 million to $3 million so far.