A Very Reasonable New Law !

It seems almost unbelievable, but we have an active "Stop the Cruise Ships  " protest group in Sydney, trying to ban cruise ships from our harbour.  In particular, they want to close down the White Bay cruise ship terminal because the ships run their engines during their port stay to generate electricity and this showers Balmain with sulphur residue particles - and this is carcinogenic.

The cruise industry is a fast growing world phenomenon and each year more luxury ships offer exotic holiday options - and Sydney is the prime Pacific port of call.  Thousands of cashed-up tourists spend a day ashore and our industrial complex profits from replenishing onboard supplies and the various maritime charges that apply to shipping.  It is a huge contributor to the New South Wales economy.

The state government has passed a new law and from October 1 cruise ships entering Sydney harbour will be required to switch to a low sulphur fuel oil - which costs about $ 250 a tonne more than the virtually unrefined crude that they use at sea.   This will bring Sydney into line with the regulations that apply in most American and European ports.

Of course, anything that increases costs brings protests from the cruise industry and there is the real danger of engine room fires whenever it becomes necessary to effect a fuel change mid ocean.  That is purely an engineering problem and all the newer ships will have had design changes at their construction stage to accommodate what is becoming a world wide law requirement.  Heavy fines will be levied for any such law breach.

This is a sensible and needed law and it will deliver better air quality across the entire Sydney basin when cruise ships entering and leaving the harbour are using a low sulphur fuel, but even a more refined fuel mix still results in a degree of exhaust pollution.  The sticking point for the people who reside around Balmain is the need for cruise ships to run their engines during the entire stay in port - because there is no facility for them to hookup to an onshore electricity supply.

Whoever thought of creating a cruise ship terminal and neglected to provide an electricity terminal was simply inadequate for that job.  It is a much needed rectification and it should go hand in hand with that law on the reduced sulphur fuel to be used while in harbour.  In fact, it should be mandatory for the engines to be shut down and local electricity used whenever a cruise ships is moored at a terminal.

So far there has been a deafening silence on plans to create the necessary electrical facilities to service cruise ships at White Bay.   If a site near this wharf was proposed for a big new manufacturing factory of some sort there would be a plethora of government departments falling over each other in the rush to create facilities - and claim the credit for the jobs created.   There is no possibility that the provision of electricity for such a plant would be a problem

In fact, we are now seeing a number of cruise ships in Sydney on the same day and they represent a valuable new customer for the electricity industry.  One ship probably uses about the same amount of power as a small suburb, and all that is necessary is to bring high voltage electricity to the dock for hookup purposes.

That is now required - as a matter of urgency !