Cover Story Breakbulk & Project Cargo
Wallenius Wilhelmsen
Clearing a path
US green corridor ports set stage for breakbulk fuel transition
By Autumn Cafiero Giusti
With newbuild dual-fuel multipurpose and heavy-lift ( MPV / HL ) vessels in the works , a handful of US ports are taking steps to advance the green shipping corridors and bunkering infrastructure necessary to support the sector ’ s transition to alternative fuels .
Although the much larger container ship segment dominates the development of so-called green corridors — a global network of trade routes for vessels that will eventually be powered by carbon-free fuels as they become available — the creation of these routes will lay the groundwork for other cargo vessels to follow suit , including those from the multipurpose and heavy-lift sector .
Heather Tomley , managing director of planning and environmental affairs for the Port of Long Beach , a member of multiple trans-Pacific green corridors , told the Journal of Commerce that as alternative fuels become available at the port , they will be accessible to any shipping lines that want to use them .
“ While we may be working with container lines right now , it ’ s not limited to only supporting those vessel types going forward ,” Tomley said .
In 2023 , Long Beach and the Port of Los Angeles established two green corridors — one with the Port Authority of Singapore and the other with the Shanghai Municipal Transportation Commission .
“ A big focus of those efforts is on how to support the transition to cleaner marine fuels ,” Tomley said , adding that the port is looking to adapt the best practices Singapore and Shanghai have established for alternative fuel bunkering and safety protocols .
Facilitating fuel supply
Ports that have established green corridors are positioned to play a key role in the alternative fuel transition . According to a December 2024 report commissioned by Long Beach on green marine fuels , these ports act as “ coordinators and implementers of decarbonization strategies , facilitating infrastructure development to support the supply and use of clean marine fuels .”
With limited availability and high costs among the immediate barriers to
Heather Tomley Port of Long Beach supplying alternative fuels , Long Beach is exploring steps it can take in the short term to support early adopters in its green shipping corridor initiative as dual-fuel vessels become available .
“ Over the next two years , the port should focus on facilitating fuel supply for these early adopters by conducting feasibility assessments to evaluate the potential of various alternative fuels and the current state of infrastructure ,” the report read .
Long Beach has supplied liquefied natural gas ( LNG ) fueling since 2022 and is working to expand its bunkering operations to support other fuel alternative types , with possibilities including green methanol , green ammonia and green hydrogen .
Tomley said preparing the port for LNG fueling provided Long Beach with a framework for developing guidelines , training and safety protocols . “ We ’ re recognizing we ’ ll need to make sure that we go through that same process for these other fuels .”
“ While we may be working with container lines right now , it ’ s not limited to only supporting those vessel types .”
She said some shipping lines the port works with are already moving forward with newbuild vessels that can operate on green methanol .
“ And starting this year , we expect that ships that are capable of being fueled with green methanol will start calling at the port ,” she added .
Tomley said the vessels will likely fuel with green methanol in Shanghai , as China is moving forward with the production and availability of green methanol .
“ The development and availability of the fuel here in the US is a little bit behind that ,” she explained . “ We ’ re going to be focusing on helping to support that availability , so ships that are capable of using green methanol can refuel here and continue their voyage on these cleaner fuels .”
Pursuing ro / ro
In the Pacific Northwest , roll-on / roll-off ( ro / ro ) vessels have become a focus of efforts to develop a green shipping corridor between the Seattle-Tacoma gateway and South Korea . In 2023 , the Northwest Seaport Alliance ( NWSA ) of Seattle and Tacoma conducted a study with the US government to identify locations for a potential corridor .
“ It also identified types of cargo that might be best positioned to explore the green corridor . In that process , we identified ro / ro ,” Jason Jordan , senior director for environment and planning for the Northwest Seaport Alliance , told the Journal of Commerce .
Ro / ro operator Wallenius Wilhelmsen is developing dual-fuel vessels that could use the corridor . “ We ’ re www . joc . com March 2025 | Journal of Commerce 7