William Benkert News

101 Crowley Vessels Honored with Environmental Awards in Recognition of 984 Combined Years of Safe Operations. More than 100 Crowley Maritime Corporation-owned and -operated vessels were honored with Certificates of Environmental Achievement for years of safe operations during the recent 12th-annual Chamber of Shipping of America (CSA) awards ceremony, held at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center in Washington D.C. Each of Crowley’s honored vessels received the certificates for having worked at least two consecutive years without an environmental incident.

Headquartered in Findlay, Ohio, Marathon Petroleum Corporation (MPC), together with its subsidiaries, is one of the largest petroleum product refiners, marketers and transporters in the United States. Supporting all of these is a large fleet of company owned, chartered and operated barges. Marathon Petroleum’s Marine Transportation provides services that meet the marine transportation needs of Marathon Petroleum Company LP (MPC). Marine Transportation’s inland river fleet is one of the largest private domestic fleets of inland petroleum product barges…

Vice Commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) Vice Adm. Peter Neffenger presented the 2014 Rear Adm. William Benkert Awards at the American Petroleum Institute's (API) annual tanker conference Thursday. The award is given to support and recognize maritime industry efforts for their environmental protection programs. This biennial award was started in 1995 and honors industry leaders in the field of marine safety and environmental protection and provides an opportunity for the Coast Guard to recognize leadership, innovation and creativity found among those members of the maritime industry. It is the premier environmental protection award presented by the U.S.

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.

Crowley Maritime Corporation was recently recognized for its environmental stewardship by the Port of the Seattle and Seattle Propeller Club, which teamed up to present the company with its second-consecutive honorable mention award for Marine Environmental Business of the Year. The awards ceremony took place at the 60th Annual Maritime Festival Luncheon aboard Holland America's cruise ship Zaandam in Seattle. The event, attended by more than 500 people from the regional maritime industry, marked the culmination of Seattle's annual Maritime Festival.

Crowley Maritime Corporation was recently recognized for its environmental stewardship by the Port of the Seattle and Seattle Propeller Club, which teamed to present the company with its runner up award for Marine Environmental Business of the Year. The awards ceremony took place at the 59th Annual Maritime Festival Luncheon aboard the cruise ship Carnival Spirit in Seattle. The event, attended by more than 500 people from the regional maritime industry, marked the culmination of Seattle's annual Maritime Festival.

During the recent Workboat Show, Crowley was recognized for its environmental initiatives, receiving second place for the Environmental Management Plan Award. The company was also awarded a Significant Boat of 2009 Award for the Nachik/Sesok. The environmental award was developed to recognize businesses and government agencies operating in the U.S. maritime industry that have successfully incorporated environmentally sustainable practices into their operations. The awards committee was comprised of industry, environmental, regulatory and media representatives.

In an age of increased environmental awareness, new commitments to reducing emissions and pollution in the air, Crowley has invested in engine modifications on its 10 tugboats dedicated to the Puerto Rico/Caribbean liner service and on its four tugs chartered to Trailer Bridge for their Puerto Rico barge service. Crowley makes four to five trips per week between the United States and Puerto Rico, which provide ample opportunity to test and perfect engine modifications, which have led to lower exhaust emissions and increased performance. Exhaust emissions take on a number of forms including visible smoke, particulate matter and nitrogen oxides (NOx). Crowley is working to reducing all three while achieving heightened performance with decreased fuel consumption.