Environmental requirements increased in revised Port of Seattle cruise facility RFP

The Port of Seattle has issued a revised Request for Proposal (RFP) to those shortlisted as potential investment and operating partners for the planned new cruise facility. The updated RFP requires cruise vessels to be equipped with shore-power capabilities while at berth. It also requires cargo-handling equipment to have zero tail-pipe emissions. The RFP further calls upon the accepted proposers to participate in regional air quality planning, to protect water quality by prohibiting discharges, and to build sustainably. The port could potentially announce a partner for the new facility by the second quarter of 2020.

“A key element of the port’s clean air and climate change strategy is to ultimately have all vessels using shore power at berth,” says Stephanie Jones Stebbins, managing director of the port’s maritime division. “The port will require all homeport cruise vessel calls at the new terminal to have shore-power capability and to be plug-in ready within the first year of operation as part of our striving to be the cleanest, greenest U.S. homeport.”

Cruise vessels have been using shore power at the Port of Seattle since 2005.