For the second year in a row, the Port of Seattle presented its Green Gateway Partners Awards, which recognize the comprehensive environmental achievements of the port's cruise and containership operators. This year's award winners are APL Ltd., Hapag-Lloyd, Maersk Line, Matson Navigation, COSCO Container Lines America's Inc., Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruise Lines, Norwegian Cruise Line, and Holland America Line.
"These maritime operators demonstrate by their actions every day that you can be good environmental stewards while contributing to our economy," said Tay Yoshitani, CEO of the Port of Seattle. "We look forward to honoring more of our customers in the future."
The name of the awards - Green Gateway Partners - compliments the Port of Seattle's role as the Green Gateway for maritime trade between Asia and the American Heartland. A study released in 2009 showed that for cargo originating in much of Asia and bound for a wide range of destinations across the United States, routes through Seattle resulted in lower carbon emissions than other routes.
The Green Gateway Partners Awards set as a minimum requirement participation in the Port's At-Berth Clean Fuels program or use of shore power. These and other environmental activities are assigned point values. Depending on the number of points earned, Green Gateway Partners can achieve one of three recognition levels - gold, silver or bronze. The awards and scoring system were done by a third party.
