A new hybrid passenger vessel, El Escudo, is now in operation at the Port of Los Angeles, marking a significant milestone in the decarbonisation of harbor craft operations in San Pedro Bay.
The 350-passenger vessel, operated by Harbor Breeze Cruises, is the result of a partnership between Harbor Breeze Cruises, the California Air Resources Board, the Port of Los Angeles and the Port of Long Beach, developed under the Los Angeles Marine Emission Reduction Project.
El Escudo features a parallel hybrid propulsion system enabling operation in fully electric zero-emission mode, diesel mode or a combination of both, and can operate for up to two hours on battery power alone.
The vessel exceeds US EPA Tier 4 and CARB Commercial Harbor Craft emissions standards and is committed to operating at least 30% of the time in zero-emission mode, with some routes achieving 100% zero-emission operations.
The LA MER Project was supported by a US$ 31 million CARB grant through its SHIFT incentive fund and US$ 30 million in partner matching funds.
Harbor Breeze Cruises invested US$ 7.5 million in El Escudo’s development and is advancing two additional low and zero-emission vessels. The Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach each contributed US$ 250,000 to a technology evaluation study and committed to funding at least 50 excursion trips each on the zero-emission capable vessels during the twelve-month demonstration period.
Both ports have also committed additional funding through their joint Technology Advancement Programme for harbor craft charging infrastructure, with Los Angeles contributing US$ 2.45 million and Long Beach US$ 1.05 million.
The El Escudo and a companion Catalina Channel Express high-speed ferry operating on renewable diesel with Tier 4 engines are projected to reduce over 60 tonnes of emissions annually combined.
Gene Seroka, Executive Director of the Port of Los Angeles, described the vessel as proof that the future of clean transport is already a reality. Peter Christensen of CARB highlighted the project as a model for accelerating cleaner maritime technology adoption that can be replicated across California.
