Green Marine Green Marine
By Participants

Praise & Pride for Green Marine at 15!

Commitment

Longtime and newer participants celebrate the program’s achievements to date

Green Marine is still young enough for members to recall its earliest days, but around long enough to make a significant environmental difference. Here are some perspectives on the 15th anniversary from a few of those present from the very beginning, as well as more recent participants.

For Green Marine, these words of praise are like gold, because they reflect how the environmental certification program’s collaborative approach guides participants from different aspects of the same industry through a process of continual improvement of which all of us can be proud.

Be sure to scroll all the way down to read all of these great messages as well as to click and hear the well wishers that we have online!
Gerry Carter
Chair of the Société portuaire du Bas-Saint-Laurent et de la Gaspésie
Retired President, Canada Steamship Lines
Initial Green Marine Co-Chair

Ray Johnston asked me to be one Green Marine’s three initial co-chairs, representing the domestic ship owners. I hesitated for a few seconds… You know, I really have a day job here, I thought. So, I initially declined at which time Mr. (Laurence) Pathy (Fednav’s CEO), became very serious and said: ‘Do you want to be part of the solution, or do you want to continue to be part of the problem?’

Becoming one of those initial co-chairs turned out to be one of the best decisions of my life! It affected my outlook on everything. Every decision that I made from that day forward at CSL and everywhere else started with the question: Is this decision sustainable?

And sustainability is an interesting word. Is it sustainable for the environment? Is it sustainable for employees? Is it sustainable for the company – not necessarily initially but over time? And people began to see that being green can create ‘green.’ There's no doubt about it, but it requires investments.

___________________

Madeleine Paquin
President & CEO
LOGISTEC Corporation

Congratulations to the entire Green Marine team on this 15th anniversary! Green Marine is today an essential association in the maritime industry. Certification is a real quality statement, as it encourages us to adopt practical steps, to measure our efforts, and to continue our overall improvement.

Green Marine’s success is derived largely from its ability to identify specific issues, which has led to protecting habitat or species in specific regions, or to addressing maritime operations in that area. Starting local can have a huge impact on the big picture. 

Green Marine will always play an important role in guiding the industry to establish sustainable goals, and to reducing its environmental footprint, which is vital for future generations.

___________________

ISABELLE BRASSARD
SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, LOGISTICS AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
FEDNAV

Green Marine’s success depends on its ability to gather its members around common issues. And, thanks to this rallying force, everyone is working together to develop the program so that it stays relevant.


Its continual improvement is just as fundamental today as when the program was launched 15 years ago. We can be proud of having succeeded in extending the program’s reach beyond our borders.

___________________

Craig H. Middlebrook
Retired Deputy Administrator
Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation

I remember that day at the Quebec City hotel when Laurence Pathy from Fednav, Gerry Carter from CSL, and Terry Johnson from the St. Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation were there as the first co-chairs to launch the Green Marine program.

It required leadership from both sides of the border and the various facets of maritime transportation to come together to overcome the challenge of aquatic invasive species entering the Seaway and Great Lakes through ballast water back then.

It made sense to look at the navigational system as a whole for that challenge, but it also led to building and maintaining strong relationships that led to collaborating on other mutual issues when that geographically or otherwise made sense.

___________________

Stephanie Jones Stebbins
Managing Director, Maritime
Port of Seattle

We had been looking for some kind of appropriate certification program. We even talked about ports in this region creating one and found it’s really difficult to do it well – to not just give everyone a ribbon. When I saw David Bolduc’s presentation, I was blown away!

Green Marine had all the relevant science-based content that raised the bar in a way consistent with how our industry works. We promptly became the first U.S. West Coast port to join in 2013. And Green Marine has exceeded my expectations since then because the tiering approach really sets out a step-by-step pathway for progress.

For instance, our port had taken some innovative approaches to community engagement but had overlooked the basic of having a hotline to call with any concerns. Now, with underwater noise, the Green Marine steps are really helping us to figure out the next things to do based on science and on making a real difference.

___________________

Solomon Egbe
Vice President, ESG & Safety
Ports America

As a new participant, Ports America is very pleased with the Green Marine program. When our company looked at whether to seek ISO or Green Marine certification, we opted for Green Marine because its criteria is specifically aligned to our industry.

We had our first location – the one in Baltimore – certified in June and will submit another five locations for the necessary verification in January. We could have applied for certification as one corporate entity, but we really want each location to work at being its best.

The Green Marine program gives us a clear idea of how the expectations of our industry are evolving in terms of Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance and a clear roadmap to achieve excellence in our ESG efforts. It is also a clear platform to relate that performance to our investors and other key stakeholders.

___________________

View more testimonies for Green Marine 15th anniversary in this video:

___________________

FOR MORE OF A LOOK BACK… 

Leaf through the special 10th anniversary issue published in May 2017 to read more about Green Marine’s origins, along with the 10-year report from the founding co-chairs, and what members envisioned for the program over its second decade.