The Port of Seattle will require all cruise ships homeporting there to plug into shore power in 2027.
The port says it is the first in the U.S. to require ships to use shore power. The move comes years before the port's previous goal of requiring all ships to plug in by 2030.
"In passing this order, the commission turns the port's 2030 goal of universal shore power use into a 2027 requirement, which is only possible due to the significant investments made by the cruise industry and the port on both the ships and shoreside facilities," said Fred Felleman, the Port of Seattle commissioner who sponsored the order. "Marketing such investments should also appeal to the environmental interests of travelers who have chosen to cruise to Alaska."
Using shore power reduces diesel emissions from cruise ships at berth by 80% on average, according to the port. Research by the University of Exeter published in the Marine Pollution Bulletin concluded that one large cruise ship can have a greater carbon footprint than 12,000 cars.
During the 2023 cruise season, cruise ships using shore power avoided emitting 2,700 metric tons of greenhouse gases and 0.75 metric tons of diesel particulate, which the port said was the equivalent of nearly 650 passenger cars driving for a year.
The Port of Seattle is in the final phases of a project to electrify Pier 66 by this summer so ships can connect there later this season. Once complete, all three of the port's cruise berths will provide shore power, which will be six years ahead of the Northwest Ports Clean Air Strategy 2030 goal.
About 30 cruise ports across the globe have at least one berth with shore power, according to the 2023 State of the Industry report from CLIA. That number accounts for less than 2% of the world's cruise ports.
Another 20 ports have plans to electrify at least one berth by 2025, which would raise that share to about 3%.