Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32JULY 2016 • FOGHORN 9 FOGHORNFOCUS: ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES C alifornia’s continued push for clean air will soon result in what could be the nation’s two cleanest ferries propelled by marine diesel engines. They will operate in the San Francisco Bay Area. “California mandates that new passenger vessels must meet the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Tier 4 engine requirements,” said Keith Stahnke, Operations Manager for PVA Vessel member San Francisco Bay Ferry. PVA Associate member Pacific Power Group (PPG), Kent, WA, has engineered a propulsion system with an exhaust treatment system for two new San Francisco Bay Ferry (also known as the San Francisco Water Emergency TransportationAuthority or WETA) ferries that may be the cleanest operating passenger ferries in the U.S. With construction expected to be completed in time to begin service in summer 2017, the ferries will replace two of San Francisco Bay Ferry’s 12-vessel fleet that are nearing the end of their expected 25-year life. Each vessel will carry approximately 400 passengers and will operate at about 27 knots. Designed by PVA Associate member Incat Crowther, each will be a 135’ x 38’ all-aluminum catamaran. Although owned by San Francisco Bay Ferry, the ferries will be operated by Blue and Gold Fleet, another PVAVessel member in San Francisco. Blue and Gold Fleet is an active participant in the PVA Green WATERS Program. Third party independent emissions testing completed in January show that the system’s emissions are believed to be lower than any currently-oper- ating passenger ferry in the U.S. The MTU engines are certified to EPA Tier 3 marine emission levels and with the added exhaust after treatment system, EPA Tier 4 Final level perfor- mance is achieved without the use of diesel particulate filters. The indepen- dent emissions tests were conducted and verified by Infowedge and the University of California at Riverside Center for Environmental Research and Technology. PPG’s custom-engineered solution focused on the operating conditions San Francisco Bay Ferry and Pacific Power Group Work Together to Engineer Cleanest Operating Ferry Propulsion System in the U.S. By Karen Rainbolt, FOGHORN Managing Editor