Posted on September 25, 2024
With shore power just commissioned at the Port of Seattle’s Pier 66, Watts Marine tallies 11 systems across seven ports, making it North America’s leading provider of the cable positioning devices for cruise ships to plug in.
Norwegian Cruise Line’s Norwegian Bliss hooked up on Saturday.
Watts, which now builds only mobile devices that can support an array of ship configuraions, also delivered two systems for the Port of Seattle’s Pier 91 that are planned to replace the stationary ones there.
In pre-COVID 2019, there were 487 cruise ship connections via Watts devices. The company estimates the number at around 800 this year with much more growth to come.
$3b in EPA funds to cut port emissions
‘It’s going to explode,’ principal Mike Watts predicted. That’s partly because the US Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 provided the Environmental Protection Agency with $3b to fund ports’ zero-emission equipment and infrastructure.
By Watts’ count, of 315 cruise ships, more than 100 are shore power-equipped ‘and we’re connecting almost 100 in North America today.’ Cruise Lines International Association counts 147 member line ships that are currently shore power-capable and forecasts 239 by 2028.
With the cruise industry’s commitment to connect at ports where shore power’s available, Watts envisions ‘almost a straight-up trajectory … It’s going to be a heck of a ride the next three to five years.’
He added: ‘It’s good to see the industry on the same page, united with this type of environmental program.’
And, for ports, there’s no question of ‘If we build it, will they come?’ Basically every brand is committed, and ‘If we build it, they’re going to use it,’ he told Seatrade Cruise News.
Challenges
Yet Watts is concerned that when EPA grants are awarded, it will be a ‘shotgun start’ with everyone placing orders. ‘The electrical manufacturers may not be able to support that type of demand all at one time,’ he cautioned, explaining the industry is competing with AI in data centers and other green initiatives.
Another challenge will be heavy demand for components to build the shore power devices.
20 to 30 new systems imminent
It took almost 20 years for Watts to put 11 systems on the ground. Now the company is chasing ’20 to 30 of these systems that could easily come into play in the US in the next couple years.’
Among those is Port Everglades, where Watts and a partner participated in a recent request for information to supply shore power at all eight cruise terminals. The RFI had 13 respondents, and the information will go into an RFP to be issued next year, according to Port Director Joseph Morris, who said Everglades has applied for $127m in grants from the EPA’s Clean Ports Program.
Canada’s East Coast
Along with the US ports, Watts Marine is talking with several East Coast Canada cruise destinations that are looking to implement shore power and seeking funding for that.
Custom-built mobile cable positioning devices
First Princess Cruises, then other Carnival Corp. brands and Disney Cruise Line, were early adopters of shore power. Now, with so many lines with different ship configurations joining in, stationary devices are no longer practical.
To build its new mobile cable positioning device, Watts Marine starts with a Genie manlift, relocates the operator console to the truck bed, installs the cables and converts the system from a diesel engine to battery power. Genie builds the lifts in Watts’ backyard in Washington state but Watts has to ship them to Norway where a company is authorized to relocate the baskets. A Finnish firm supplies the battery packs.
This mobile system was first installed at the Port of San Diego’s B Street Cruise Terminal in 2023.
Watts Marine’s device allows the operator to plug into shore power cables on the back side while extending the cables from the end of a boom. The ship’s crew reaches out, pulls in the power cables and plugs them into their connection box.
Once the connection is made, the shoreside operator selects the ship to be connected from a database in the automation system, which determines the proper operating parameters. Protection relays and redundant safety systems ensure the safety of the ship and shore electrical systems.
Watts Marine’s custom software also allows the specialists in the company’s dedicated Seattle control center to monitor each connection.
2004 start
It all began in late 2004 when Princess Cruises approached Mike Watts (then with Cochran Marine) to devise a shore power system for Seattle’s Terminal 30 in Seattle. That was implemented in 2005, followed by a system for Holland America Line in Seattle in 2006.
Mike Watts shows the back-of-house shore power control room at the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal
Subsequent systems were installed at Port of Vancouver’s Canada Place, Port of San Francisco’s James R. Herman Cruise Terminal at Pier 27 and, in 2011, Port of San Diego and the Long Beach Cruise Terminal. Then Cochran began installations at East Coast ports: Halifax followed by New York’s Brooklyn Cruise Terminal.
In November 2021, Mike Watts acquired Cochran’s marine division — which he’d founded in 2005 — and it became Watts Marine.
$6.5m devices
The company’s first shore power system in 2005 cost $1.3m; now, with pandemic-era inflation, the price is up to $6.5m. This is a turnkey package with a proprietary patented system, utility metering equipment, primary and secondary switchgear, transformer, power factor correction, cable managment, IEC/IEEE 800005-1 compliance and usage reports provided after each connection.
‘Nothing can go wrong’
With other suppliers getting into this business over the years, Watts Marine is not the only game in town.
Mike Watts made the case for what sets his company apart: ‘We don’t just sell this system to a port and walk away. We want to be engaged with everything to do with shore power after that and take all that burden off the port,’ he said.
‘We’re plugging in billion-dollar floating assets, and nothing can go wrong. We want to make sure our systems are up to date. We test them every year and recertify them. We work with and train our operators.
He continued: ‘We give our customers a different experience with a project like this and we’re there throughout the entire construction process and we’re there thereafter … Now, we’re starting to get into more upgrades of legacy and older systems, keeping them just as healthy as new systems.
‘We’ve got to have that realibility, especially in California where cruise lines are fined substantially if they can’t connect. You don’t want to be the reason they couldn’t connect.’
