“The use of AMP at our World Cruise Center reduces emissions not just at the Port but improves the quality of air throughout the Los Angeles region,” said Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. “The ability to adapt this technology to multiple cruise lines eliminates significant ship exhaust when cruise ships are at berth, and the AMP Mobile is another innovation that demonstrates our commitment to developing cutting-edge technology that can benefit port communities everywhere.”

“I’m particularly pleased that port engineers were the first worldwide who came up with a way to handle the challenges of adapting to the unique needs of multiple cruise lines with different power requirements at one cruise terminal,” said Executive Director Geraldine Knatz. “This is another important tool we are using to grow in a diverse and environmentally responsible manner.”

The Port of Los Angeles has three AMP mobiles, which were designed for the World Cruise Center by their port engineers and Cavotec. With 100 feet of lateral movement capability and a remote-controlled arm to adjust the cable crane arm to changing tides and the location of power connections on cruise ships, the AMP mobile versatility allows for a variety of cruise ship configurations.

The World Cruise Center is also the only port where two cruise ships can be connected simultaneously. Cruise ships utilise either 6.6 kilovolts (kV) or 11 kV electrical power distribution systems to plug into shore-side power; the Port of Los Angeles can now accommodate either. Currently the power demand of the cruise ships calling the Port of Los Angeles is anywhere between 8 to 13 megawatts of power. A seven megawatt load is equivalent to producing enough electricity for approximately 1,000 homes.

The Port’s AMP system installed at the World Cruise Center is capable of delivering up to 40 megawatts of power, with 20 megawatts of power delivery capacity to each of the two different ships.