Washington State Ferries honored for environmental excellence

Washington State Ferries (WSF) was recently awarded the 2018 WSDOT Environmental Director’s Award.

The WSF’s vessel masters and chief engineers won the Environmental Director’s Award for their “extraordinary efforts to reduce fuel use and noise” in support of the governor’s greenhouse gas and orca protection initiatives. Reducing their speed by just one knot resulted in a 3% reduction in fuel consumption and the corresponding decrease in carbon dioxide emissions. WSF saved 234,000 gallons (885,786 litres) of fuel and $491,000 during a five-month period!

Over the summer, WSF’s Sidney, British Columbia, vessel Chelan slowed down in the Haro Strait to lower its ambient sound in a critical feeding area for southern resident killer whales.