Prince Rupert Port Authority announces Green Wave Award recipients for environment program’s record year

The Prince Rupert Port Authority (PRPA) is honoring five companies for their outstanding participation in the Green Wave program.

The recipients of the 2024 Green Wave Award are intermodal carriers COSCO and Yang Ming, liquid-bulk shipping lines SK Shipping and Navigator Gas LLC, and coastal passenger and vehicle transportation service BC Ferries.

PRPA also recognizes nine individual vessels for using underwater noise mitigation technology, including: container vessels YM PLUM, YM UNIFORM, YM MUTUALITY, and MOL CHARISMA; LPG carriers BOREAL VOYAGER and HLS DIAMOND; dry-bulk carriers XH SQUARE LEG and YANGZE 16; as well as cruise vessel ROALD AMUNDSEN.

Launched in 2013, the Green Wave program offers financial incentives to commercial vessel owners who voluntarily invest in environmentally sustainable measures. Guided by standards recognized throughout the global maritime industry, PRPA provides lower harbor fees based on a vessel’s air emissions and underwater noise performance. The Green Wave program requirements are regularly updated to integrate environmental best practices as they evolve.

Over the past five years, there has been a notable increase in Green Wave program participation, demonstrating the accelerating shift within the global shipping fleet towards adopting environmentally sustainable practices. In 2024, 316 commercial vessel calls met the program’s criteria, representing a 33 percent rise over 2019.

“The Prince Rupert Port Authority commends the 2024 Green Wave Award recipients for their commitment to decarbonizing the global shipping and passenger transportation sectors and lessening the impacts of their operations on the environment,” said Shaun Stevenson, President and CEO, Prince Rupert Port Authority. “We are also encouraged to see a record number of vessels calling on the Prince Rupert Gateway that are activating measures to reduce underwater noise. These critical investments help support the protection of marine mammals and other aquatic life around the North Coast and beyond.”

The Green Wave program is an important component of PRPA’s environmental stewardship strategy and exemplifies the organization’s leadership role in supporting the decarbonization of transpacific supply chains. The initiative advances PRPA's own continuing actions to drastically cut carbon dioxide, airborne particulates, nitrogen oxides, and sulfur dioxide emissions in the airshed surrounding the Port of Prince Rupert. It also directly supports PRPA’s goal of reducing carbon intensity at the Prince Rupert Gateway by a further 30 percent in the next five years and reaching carbon neutrality by 2050.