Harbor Breeze Cruises has put the 350-passenger hybrid harbour craft El Escudo into operation at the Port of Los Angeles under a port-led emissions-reduction partnership with CARB and the Port of Long Beach, according to the Port of Los Angeles.
The vessel made its maiden voyage through the port’s Main Channel on 25 May and will be berthed at the Port of Los Angeles to serve the San Pedro Bay ports.
El Escudo uses a parallel hybrid propulsion system, allowing fully electric, diesel or hybrid operation. It can run for up to two hours on battery power alone with zero emissions and exceeds US EPA Tier 4 and CARB Commercial Harbor Craft emissions standards.
The vessel is expected to operate at least 30% of the time in zero-emission mode, with some trips reaching 100% zero-emission operations depending on route and runtime requirements.
“Harbor Breeze Cruises is committed to helping create a cleaner, healthier and more sustainable harbor for everyone,” said Capt Dan Salas, founder and owner of Harbor Breeze Cruises. “This new hybrid passenger vessel is just the beginning of our efforts to help reduce our operational emissions in the San Pedro Bay.”
The vessel was developed and tested under the Los Angeles Marine Emission Reduction project, supported by a $31m CARB grant and $30m in matching funds from project partners.
The project is testing two harbour craft emission-reduction technologies: Harbor Breeze Cruises’ Zero-Emission Advanced Technology vessels and a Catalina Channel Express high-speed ferry operating on renewable diesel with Tier 4 engines.
The vessels are projected to cut emissions by more than 60 tons annually.
Harbor Breeze Cruises invested $7.5m in El Escudo and is developing a second hybrid vessel under the LA MER project with an additional $7.5m match share. A third vessel, funded separately, is also under development.
The Port of Los Angeles and the Port of Long Beach each committed $250,000 to a technology evaluation study and will each fund at least 50 excursion trips on the zero-emission capable vessels during the 12-month demonstration period. The Port of Los Angeles has also committed $2.45m and the Port of Long Beach $1.05m through the joint Technology Advancement Program to support harbour craft charging infrastructure and additional vessel technologies.
Harbor Breeze Cruises is a privately owned marine tourism and events operator in the Los Angeles region, offering harbour tours, whale-watching excursions and special-event cruises in the Los Angeles and Long Beach port complex.
The Port of Los Angeles is a City of Los Angeles department that manages port facilities and maritime operations on the Los Angeles side of San Pedro Bay.
The Port of Long Beach is a municipal port authority of the City of Long Beach operating the Long Beach side of the San Pedro Bay port complex.