Port of Vancouver offers discounts for quiet cargo ships

The Vancouver Fraser Port Authority has added new incentive criteria to its existing EcoAction program to include harbor due rate discounts for quieter vessels, making Canada the first country to offer a marine noise reduction incentive.    The Port of Vancouver in British Columbia, Canada is offering discounts for quiet cargo ships, according to a statement from the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority.
   The port authority has added new incentive criteria to its existing EcoAction program to include harbor due rate discounts for quieter vessels, making Canada the first country to offer a marine noise reduction incentive.
   The new underwater noise reduction incentive is the next step toward the port authority’s long-term goal of reducing the impacts of commercial shipping activities on at-risk whales, said Duncan Wilson, vice president of corporate social responsibility at the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority. The discount comes as a result of the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority-led Enhancing Cetacean Habitat and Observation (ECHO) program, a collaborative research initiative that launched in 2014 involving marine transportation industries, conservation and environmental groups, First Nations individuals, government and scientists.
   Since 2007, the port authority’s EcoAction program has offered a variety of harbor rate discounts to ship operators based on fuel usage, technology and environmental management options. The new criteria includes three quiet-vessel ship classifications and three propeller technologies shown to reduce underwater noise, according to the port authority.
   “Today, the federal government recognized the programs and projects we have in place, which we believe align well with the government’s recently announced Oceans Protection Plan as it relates to sustainability and preserving and restoring Canada’s marine ecosystems,” Wilson said.
“We are very proud of the progress we are collectively making to better understand and address the impacts of vessel activities on marine life.”