Ship & Shore Environmental Inc. specializes in capturing and controlling industrial air pollution. It makes sense, then, that the Long Beach company would establish a presence in one of the world’s most polluted countries: India. This week the company formalized its work in the country, where 21 of the world’s 30 most polluted cities are located and where the air’s particle pollution is five times the exposure recommendation of the World Health Organization. Last year, there were more than 2 million deaths from air pollution-related causes in India — and the situation has only been exacerbated by Covid-19.
Ship & Shore, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, aims to help manufacturers combat pollution by designing, engineering, manufacturing and installing customized, energy-efficient air-pollution abatement systems that not only result in tailored “green” solutions but improved operational efficiency. “We basically design systems that capture everything from the plant … and we turn all of that into clean air,” President and CEO Anoosheh Oskouian told me in a recent chat. “At times if they’re interested, we turn all of the pollutants into energy and bring it back to the plant for various types of heating purposes.” Although the company does have a line of products that includes various types of thermal oxidizers, flares, and heat and energy recovery systems, Ship & Shore really specializes in bespoke solutions. “What we do is we walk the plant, walk the process, and find out what would be the most suitable way to capture and control all of the emissions that may be coming off of each facility,” Oskouian said. “There are a series of equipment that could be applicable to each one of the processes, but there are never two that are the same.” International expansion Ship & Shore’s move into India follows the rollout of a National Clean Air Programme there with the goal of reducing particulate matter concentration in the air by 2024.
The country is facing an uphill battle, however, amid coal burning, vehicles, biomass burning, road dust and other ongoing pollution sources. Strategies to reduce air pollution include new electric vehicle mandates, increased renewable energy production and public education campaigns. Ship & Shore aims to help on the manufacturing side with a full team across sales, marketing, business development and engineering specifically for the Indian market. The company has also cultivated local partners to help deploy services and solutions in local markets with area-specific environmental regulations. Its expansion into India follows similar moves last year into China, where there’s a Ship & Shore office near Shangnai, and Thailand, where there’s an office in Bangkok. “Our goal is to go in areas where they are focused on tackling the pollution problems that are generated as a result of industry,” Oskouian said. After bidding on and completing successful projects for several years there, for example, Ship & Shore now manufactures systems for China in China, and handles projects for Thailand in Thailand. “We have no geographic boundaries in our air,” Oskouian said. “No matter what one country or one entity does at one place, you will always see it somewhere else. … Whatever we do anywhere on this planet, it will eventually affect others somehow. That was one of the main reasons for us to become more involved globally.”