Foss Awarded Grant Money from the Port of Long Beach
Company will use funding to upgrade aging engines
SEATTLE, July 21, 2009 – Foss Maritime Company will receive a portion of a $4 million air quality grant awarded to the Port of Long Beach from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to repower two crew boats in their Southern California fleet.
“Foss is pleased to continue our partnership with the Port of Long Beach and the EPA to improve the air quality of Southern California by repowering vessels with cleaner burning engines,” said Gary Faber, President and COO.
Approximately $388,500 will go toward replacing the engines in the Caribe Alliance and Caribe Horizon that serve as crew boats for the company’s El Segundo and Pacific Area Lighterage (PAL) operations. Their existing engines, Detroit 12-71 Turbos and GM EMD 12-645-E2’s, will be replaced with Tier 2 certified engines, the best control technology currently available.
The grant was awarded to the Port to replace or retrofit aging technology with more efficient, less polluting technology, and is part of the $25 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 to reduce diesel exhaust in California.
“We are honored to receive the EPA award in support of our partnership with Foss. It is projects like the upgrades to Foss’ harbor craft engines that help improve air quality in Long Beach and the region,” said Robert Kanter, the Port of Long Beach’s Managing Director of Environmental Affairs and Planning.