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Green Marine, a partnership for a sustainable future undertaken by the St. Lawrence - Great Lakes maritime industry in both Canada and the U.S., has published the individual results attained by the 44 companies participating in its environmental program.

The individual results, being published for the first time, show significant improvements achieved since the program began in 2008.

The cornerstone of the Green Marine initiative is the Environmental Program of the St. Lawrence and Great Lakes Maritime Industry. Companies participating in this program evaluate their performance with respect to the seven priority environmental issues on a five-level scale that ranges from regulatory compliance to excellence in their practices.

The global average score of participants has risen from level 2 in 2008 to level 2.5 in 2009, exceeding regulatory standards. Individual participant results are available at www.green-marine.org.

"The progress made in two years provides irrefutable evidence of the degree to which participants have integrated a culture of continuous environmental improvement into their activities and this represents Green Marine's greatest success," commented Laurence Pathy, President of Fednav Limited and one of Green Marine's three co-chairs (along with Gerry Carter of Canada Steamship Lines and Terry Johnson of the Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation).

Green Marine has also strengthened the program by implementing an external verification process that requires the program's participants to have their results verified by an independent third party every two years - a process that thirteen shipowners have undergone so far. Currently, the external verification process is being conducted by Lloyd's Register Quality Assurance Inc. (LRQA), based in Houston, TX.

"We are pleased to have been selected to provide an independent verification of the results for Green Marine this year," said Andrew Smith, President of LRQA Inc. "LRQA's involvement included on-site visits with the shipping companies participating in the program to validate the systems, processes and accuracy of data used in reporting their results under the Green Marine program."

"The success of this program hinges on transparency," said David Bolduc, Green Marine's Executive Director. "The participating shipowners, ports, terminal facilities, and the operators of the St. Lawrence Seaway are committed to continuous improvement and releasing these results to the public not only shows their progress, it clearly demonstrates their genuine commitment to improve their environmental performance."

"One of our main goals in 2010 is to extend the external verification process to all Green Marine participants," added Terry Johnson, Administrator of the St. Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation.

The priority environmental issues addressed by the program are:

1. Aquatic Invasive Species - Reduce the risk of introducing and propagating aquatic organisms and dangerous pathogens via ships' ballast water.

2. Air Emissions - Reduce emissions of sulphur oxide (SOx) and of nitrogen oxide (NOx).

3. Greenhouse Gases - Reduce emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs).

4. Cargo Residues - Reduce discharges of cargo residues.

5. Oily Waters - Reduce the risk of discharging oily waters.

6. Conflicts of Use for Port and Terminals - Reduce the levels of noise, dust, odours and light to which individuals residing close to port installations are exposed.

7. Environmental Leadership - Encourage port administrations to play a leadership role with respect to their tenants and users in the adoption of best environmental practices.

Throughout the program, participants are required to implement best practices, improve their environmental management and acquire new equipment and technologies with the goal of reaching level 5 performance, which represents environmental excellence and leadership. The program enables participating companies to undertake concrete environmental actions and continuously evaluate their environmental progress.

"Green Marine now has a solid foundation from which to pursue its efforts to further consolidate and expand this program in 2010 and 2011," said Gerry Carter, President of Canada Steamship Lines.

The Green Marine program is supported by a range of public and private organizations for which environmental stewardship is a priority, including governments, municipalities and environmental organizations.

"WWF-Canada encourages the Green Marine program to work with its participants to set emissions reduction targets, develop implementation strategies for monitoring and report progress against these targets," said Hadley Archer, Vice President, Strategic Partnerships, WWF-Canada. "By measurably reducing their environmental footprint, Green Marine participants will help make a difference in the fight against climate change and set the bar for the entire maritime industry."

Green Marine Participants

1. Algoma Central Corporation
2. Bécancour Waterfront Industrial Park
3. Bunge Canada
4. Canforna
5. Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Port Authority
6. Cogema
7. CSL Group
8. CTMA Group
9. Duluth Seaway Port Authority
10. Empire Stevedoring Company Limited
11. Federal Marine Terminals
12. Fednav Limited
13. Groupe Desgagnés
14. Hamilton Port Authority
15. Illinois International Port District
16. Les Élévateurs de Trois-Rivières
17. Logistec Corporation
18. Lower Lakes Towing Limited
19. McKeil Marine
20. Montreal Gateway Terminals Partnership
21. Montréal Port Authority
22. Ocean Group
23. Oceanex
24. Oshawa Harbour Commission
25. Porlier Express
26. Port of Milwaukee
27. Port of Valleyfield
28. Québec Port Authority
29. Reformar
30. Rigel Shipping Canada
31. Rio Tinto Alcan
32. Saguenay Port Authority
33. Sept-Îles Port Authority
34. Société des Traversiers du Québec
35. Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation
36. Seaway Marine Transport
37. St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation
38. Thunder Bay Port Authority
39. Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority
40. Toronto Port Authority
41. Trois-Rivières Port Authority
42. Upper Lakes Group
43. Ultramar
44. Windsor Port Authority