The Green Award Foundation and MeteoGroup Maritime have signed an agreement to work together to incentivise ship owners with high safety and environmental standards and to eliminate substandard shipping from the world’s oceans. Green Award Managing Director Jan Fransen and MeteoGroup Maritime CEO Peter Stoter signed the agreement in December 2011.
Launched in 1994, Green Award certifies ships that are extra clean and extra safe. Green Award works with partners who offer financial and non-financial benefits to certified ships thereby rewarding high safety and environmental standards in shipping. The scheme makes above standard ship operations economically more attractive and is open to oil tankers and dry bulk carriers from 20,000 DWT and upwards, LNG carriers and inland navigation vessels.
Green Award’s partnership with the specialist maritime division of Europe’s leading weather forecasting company, MeteoGroup, is mutually beneficial for the organisations’ clients. The benefits of SPOS, MeteoGroup Maritime’s market-leading weather routing service for shipping, is in line with the objectives of the Green Award certification, namely a safe and environmentally friendly international shipping industry. Under the new agreement, MeteoGroup Maritime will reward any ship that has passed the stringent Green Award certification process with a reduction in annual rates.
It’s now widely accepted that clean, safe shipping is in the interests of everyone involved in the shipping industry and the Green Award Foundation currently has over 40 partners in twelve countries. The partners – ports and marine service providers – offer lower rates and other benefits to over 200 certified sea-going vessels. Mr Stoter and Mr Fransen said they hoped that the new partnership would increase the advantages to ship owners and managers who operate above required compliance standards.
“Green Award is the only global, independent, not-for-profit quality assurance organisation that works by offering incentives to quality owners and vessels,” Mr Fransen said. “By choosing partners like MeteoGroup Maritime, we are able to offer stakeholders of both organisations even greater incentives to pursue higher quality.”
Mr Stoter agreed, saying: “Worldwide trade is heavily reliant on the international shipping industry and it is in the interest of all parties to find the safest and most efficient way to transport goods from port to port. MeteoGroup provides the maritime industry with the most accurate and reliable maritime weather forecasts on the market and SPOS is used to optimise ship routing around the globe. SPOS ensures vessels navigate the globe safely and efficiently, reducing fuel consumption and contributing to a clean environment.”
[mappress] World Maritime News Staff, December 23, 2011; Image: MeteoGroup Maritime