Port Achieves Highest Scores for Green Marine Certification

Port continues tradition of being an environmentally sustainable port of the future

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Being committed to environmental stewardship ranks among the five pillars the Port of Hueneme has included in its Strategic Plan. This month, the Port of Hueneme earned a certification from Green Marine—the leading international  environmental certification program for the maritime transportation industry — that demonstrates a tradition of leading the way towards becoming a cleaner and more environmentally sustainable port. Green Marine certification, which requires annual improvement, is predicated on members going beyond and above mere compliance with legally required environmental programs.

Green Marine’s environmental program assists ports, terminal operators, and shipping lines in reducing their environmental footprint through a comprehensive program that addresses key environmental issues and criteria using seven performance indicators: Greenhouse Gases & Air Pollutants, Spill Prevention and Stormwater Management, Dry Bulk Handling and Storage, Community Impact, Environmental Leadership, Waste Management, and Underwater Noise.

“I am honored that the Port of Hueneme is the highest scoring Port in California for taking action to improve the environment and our local community,” said Mary Anne Rooney, President of the Oxnard Harbor Commission. “Achieving this certification is not easy to do, and the Port’s commitment to the environment makes it imperative that we stay on the track of being good environmental stewards.”

According to Green Marine, more than 170 ship owners, terminals, ports, shipyards, as well as the Canadian and U.S. Seaway corporations, now voluntarily assess their annual environmental performance beyond regulatory compliance and have it independently verified to be certified Green Marine participants.

“Each time we have completed the certification, Green Marine sets the bar higher and higher, so by the Port being able to achieve an almost perfect score this time is a huge achievement,” said Giles Pettifor, Environmental Manager for the Port of Hueneme.

The Port of Hueneme continues its maritime legacy as being California’s first port ever to complete the certification. Through this certification, the Port’s robust environmental framework sets strategic action plans in the core areas of air, climate change, energy, marine resources, soils and sediments, sustainability, and community, qualifying the Port for Green Marine certification.

As the Port is not content to sit idly on past accomplishments, it is pushing aggressively into new fields of heavy duty industrial decarbonization in pursuit of its future of zero emission operations. In November of 2021 the Port’s Board of Harbor Commissioners voted unanimously for a resolution committing the port to a future of zero emission operations. The Port is currently undertaking an in-depth study of its operational energy needs and how those could be met with clean fuels including things like clean grid power and green hydrogen. This study will be completed in approximately 1 year and will help further guide the Port’s role as a regional pioneer of clean energy for Ventura County and being a catalyst to drive new opportunities for Ventura county’s economy and most importantly its workers, its students, and its communities.