The U.S. Coast Guard announced the award recipients for the 2012 Biennial Rear Admiral William M. Benkert, Marine Environmental Protection Award for Excellence at the American Petroleum Institute Tanker Conference in Orlando, Fla.
The winner of the Osprey award went to APL Co. Pte. Ltd. based out of Singapore in the large vessel category. The winners for the Gold award went to AEP River Operations based out of St. Louis and Holland America based out of Seattle in the foreign vessel category. Ingram Marine Group based out of Nashville, Tenn., Matson Navigation based out of Oakland, Calif., and Marathon Petroleum Co. based out of Tampa, Fla., were winners in the large vessel category.
Winners for the Silver award in the large vessel category went to Maersk Line Ltd. based out of Baltimore. Maersk Tankers based out of Denmark won in the foreign vessel category, U.S. Shipping Corp. based out of Edison, N.J. won in the small vessel category, and Portland Pipeline based out of South Portland, Maine won in the small facility category.
Honorable mention went to Ya-SA Gemi Isletmeciligi VE based out of Istanbul in the foreign vessel category.
"For our industry partners, the Rear Admiral William Benkert Award provides the ideal venue to strive for and recognize environmental excellence,” said Capt. Eric Christensen, chief of the office for commercial vessel compliance. “The commandant's guiding principle of strengthening our partnerships is a valuable tenet to honor industry's efforts in continual pollution prevention, safety management and environmental stewardship.”
The program recognizes corporations and businesses involved in marine facility or vessel operations that have demonstrated sustained excellence and outstanding achievement in protecting the marine environment. It also encourages innovations in operations, maintenance, cargo handling, refueling, training, and provides a means for award recipients to share their successful methods and techniques with others in industry.