Connection Points in Shipping Industry

With the growing concern on emission from ships while berthed in ports, shore power is facilitated by various ports to ships while berthed in ports and such facility requires standardization for connection points.

To facilitate shore power supply to ships while in Indian ports, the Directorate General of Shipping has issued ‘Standard Operating Procedures’ for supply of shore power to ships with power demand up to 150 KW. This has standardized the fitment at shore and ship and is helpful in supplying shore power to small ships, such as, tugs.

To supply shore power to International going ships, international standardization is needed because the ships travel to different ports across the world and cannot have different fitments for taking in shore power at different ports. In this regard, the Maritime Safety Committee of International Maritime Organization at its 107th session held between 31 May 2023 and 9 June 2023 has approved the new Guidelines on safe operation of onshore power supply (OPS) service in port for ships engaged on international voyages. Standard Operating Procedures for supply of shore power to ships issued by the Government of India is compatible with related international standards for supply of shore power to ships.

Many Classification Societies have developed Rules for supply of shore power to ships carrying dangerous cargoes, such as, Oil tankers and these are taken into account while conducting risk assessment for supply of shore power to such ships.

This information was given by the Union Minister for Ports, Shipping and Waterways, Shri Sarbananda Sonowal in a written reply to the Lok Sabha today.

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MJPS/NSK