BC Ferries receives prestigious environmental leadership awards, certification

BC Ferries receives prestigious environmental leadership awards, certification By Cindy Chan

It’s an honour to be nominated, but BC Ferries is also pleased that it won two environmental leadership awards and received an environmental certification for its continued efforts to be greener. BC Ferries received a Blue Circle Award from the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority, a Green Wave Award from the Prince Rupert Port Authority and Green Marine certification, which is highly prestigious.

Astrid Chang, manager of communications for BC Ferries, says this is the third time BC Ferries won a Blue Circle Award from the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority, which recognizes industry partners that excel in environmental leadership and stewardship, and obtain the highest level of participation in the EcoAction Program and Energy Action Initiative.

“They acknowledged our voluntary efforts to conserve energy and reduce emissions in the Port of Vancouver,” Chang explains.

For the second year, BC Ferries also won a Green Wave Award from the Prince Rupert Port Authority, which recognizes participation in the Green Wave environmental incentive program, which encourages people to mitigate the impact of vessels in the water, air and around the port.

As well, BC Ferries has received Green Marine certification for the sixth year in a row. Green Marine is a voluntary environmental certification program for ship owners, port authorities, terminal operators, seaway corporations and shipyards, according to a release. The program aims to reduce the environmental footprint of marine operators.

Beyond their awards, BC Ferries has a few long-term environmental strategies in its Clean Futures Plan and LongTerm Underwater Noise Management Plan, which describe how the company plans to continue to provide its leading services in coastal B.C. and to fulfil its responsibilities of sailing safely and protecting the environment.

“As stakeholders in the sea, we have a responsibility to understand how our activities may affect marine wildlife,” Chang says. “What we do is we engage with scientists to make baseline measurements for noise characteristics and so on.”

As well, when BC Ferries builds its ships, each new class built is generally quieter than the ones before to reduce noise pollution. One way this is done through improvements in hull design to reduce wave-making noise.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has affected every aspect of our operations, but one thing that hasn’t wavered is our ongoing commitment to reduce our environmental footprint,” Chang says. Ü