Brandy Christian of Port of New Orleans named to Green Marine board

Brandy

(NEW ORLEANS) — Green Marine, an environmental certification program for the North American marine industry, elected Port of New Orleans Chief Operating Officer Brandy Christian to its board of directors during its annual conference last month.

“Brandy Christian’s nomination shows a high-level of commitment to sustainability from the Port of New Orleans,” Green Marine Executive Director David Bolduc said in a statement. “We are pleased to have an administrator with her level of expertise sitting on our board. We hope that her involvement with our organization is a sign of increased commitment from the Gulf of Mexico maritime industry.”

The port earned its first environmental certification with Green Marine in May of 2015 and was the eighth U.S. port to achieve the milestone at the time.

“I am proud of the port’s involvement with Green Marine and excited to be a part of its leadership,” Christian said. “The growth of the port and maritime industry is exciting; however, we want to do so in an environmentally friendly way. As a port, we want to be a leader not only within our jurisdictional boundaries, but throughout North America.”

Other Green Marine Board members include Terrence Bowles, president and CEO of the St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corp.; Stephen Edwards, GCT Global Container Terminals Inc.; William D. Friedman, president and CEO of Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Port Authority; Paul Gourdeau, president of Federal Marine Terminals; Don Krusel, president and CEO of Prince Rupert Port Authority; Allister Paterson, president of Canada Steamship Lines; Jim Quinn, president and CEO of Saint John Port Authority; and Ron Tursi, president of TBS Ship Management.

The port will host a Green Marine seminar Oct. 27 immediately following the American Association of Port Authorities Annual Conference in New Orleans. The seminar aims to educate the maritime industry in Louisiana and across the Gulf Coast on innovative efforts of ports, terminal operators and vessel owners to operate in a more sustainable manner.

Green Marine is a voluntary, transparent and inclusive initiative that addresses key environmental issues through its 12 performance indicators. Participants are shipowners, ports, terminals, Seaway corporations and shipyards. The cornerstone of the Green Marine initiative is its environmental program, which makes it possible for any marine company operating in Canada or the U.S. to reduce its environmental footprint by undertaking concrete and measurable actions. To receive their certification, participants must benchmark their annual environmental performance through the program’s exhaustive self-evaluation guides, have their results verified by an accredited external verifier and agree to publication of their individual results.

By Professional Mariner Staff