Washington State Ferries joins Green Marine

Seattle, WA, July 11, 2018 – Washington State Ferries (WSF) has become the first U.S. ferry operator to join Green Marine, the leading environmental certification program for the North American maritime industry.

WSF is the largest ferry system in the United States. It is enrolling all of its operations in the Green Marine program, namely 22 vessels, 19 terminals, and a maintenance facility, thereby showing its substantial commitment to sustainable operations.

Globally recognized, Green Marine is a voluntary industry-led sustainability initiative for ship owners, port authorities, terminal operators and shipyard managers. The certification program guides participants towards reducing their environmental footprint by setting various benchmarks that exceed regulatory compliance and foster a culture of continual improvement.

“We are pleased to join Green Marine and look forward to working with its framework and team as part of our constant efforts to green our fleet and facilities,” said Kevin Bartoy, WSF’s environmental program manager.

“WSF’s participation is a truly welcomed addition to Green Marine,” added David Bolduc, Green Marine’s executive director. “WSF is a sustainability leader when it comes to marine mammal protection and electric hybridization, for example, and there’s no doubt that WSF’s participation will help Green Marine to achieve its objective of advancing environmental excellence within the North American marine industry.”

The Green Marine environmental certification program addresses key environmental issues through 12 performance indicators. Some are applicable to shipping activities; others to landside operations.

• The ship owners’ criteria address greenhouse gases, air emissions, oily water, garbage management, and underwater noise.
• The terminal operators and shipyard managers’ criteria focus on greenhouse gases, spill prevention, waste management, environmental leadership, community impacts, and underwater noise.

The Green Marine certification process is rigorous and transparent. Results are independently verified every two years and each company’s individual results are published annually and made available on line on Green Marine website.

View the PDF version of this news release.