Recognising excellence: International shipping leaders celebrated for protecting whales

Exploring Protecting Blue Whales and Blue Skies' workshop to advance collaboration in addressing ocean noise, and recognising top-performing shipping lines and corporate ambassadors.

Photo: Katie Abbott Photography.

Shipping industry leaders from all over the globe gathered at the Port of Los Angeles in April to be recognised for their exemplary voluntary efforts toward protecting endangered whales and coastal air quality off California.

This year, the coveted Protecting Blue Whales and Blue Skies Programme (BWBS) whale tail awards were handcrafted with wood sourced from remnants of wooden boats by shipwright Nate Slater from his Pacific Northwest woodshop. Tails are awarded to BWBS Sapphire-rated lines whose fleets transited at least 85% of their total distance at whale-safer 10 knots or less in specified vessel speed reduction (VSR) zones. Studies show that doing so reduces the risk of fatal strikes by 50% and air pollution by about 27% from baseline.

The shipping industry is essential to global trade. It also holds huge potential to help mitigate critical threats facing marine life and coastal communities. Shipping lines that participate in BWBS voluntarily reduce their speed along stretches of the California coast to help protect endangered blue, fin, and humpback whales and reduce air pollution, emissions, and ocean noise.

Photo: Katie Abbott Photography.

Addressing Underwater Radiated Noise (URN) with VSR

Underwater noise pollution is a significant threat to marine life given many marine species rely on sound to navigate, communicate, and hunt. The roar of propellers and engines, especially in busy shipping lanes, can interfere with these natural behaviours, impacting everything from whale communication and feeding capacity to fish spawning behaviour.

Globally, awareness of underwater noise as a marine pollutant is growing. The International Maritime Organisation (IMO) has issued guidelines, and several regional and national initiatives are encouraging quieter ships and better monitoring. But there is a huge opportunity for industry to lead in this space.

In light of this, the morning before the ceremony provided an opportunity to bring together key voices from across the sector. These included scientists, shipping companies, port authorities, regulators, and nongovernmental organisations who shared insights, challenges, and next steps on addressing underwater radiated noise (URN). The workshop, supported by BWBS Ambassador Sonos focused on accelerating collaboration and innovation for real-world change.

Every year, BWBS and Scripps Institution of Oceanography conduct an independent analysis to quantify the positive impact of the programme specific to reducing underwater noise levels in key habitats. By reducing speeds, propeller cavitation and URN are also reduced. In 2024, ship noise of participating vessels was reduced by 38%. Looking ahead, Scripps researchers are investigating long-term trends, how quieter oceans benefit marine ecosystems, and ways to provide shipping companies with fleet-specific URN data.

2025 vessel speed reduction season

BWBS 2025 VSR Season commenced on May 1, and will run through December 31, 2025, coinciding with peak whale presence and ozone season. Shipping lines that operate container, car carrier, bulk cargo, or tanker vessels with transits off the California coast are eligible to participate. Twenty two shipping lines that achieved Sapphire or Gold in 2024 have already signed on to participate this year. They are:

• Anglo-Eastern Ship Management, ConocoPhillips - Polar Tankers, COSCO Shipping Lines, CSL Americas, Evergreen Marine Corp. (Taiwan) LTD.
• Hapag Lloyd, Hyundai Glovis, Hyundai Merchant Marine, K-LINE, Maersk
• MSC, NYK RoRo, ONE (Ocean Network Express (North America) Inc., OSG Ship Management, Scorpio Group, Shih Wei Navigation Co., Ltd
• The d'Amico Group, Toyofuji Shipping Co LTD, UNISEA Shipping LTD.
• Wallenius Wilhelmsen, Wan Hai, and Yang Ming.

A carrot approach to driving responsible shipping

BWBS focuses on the positive and relies on a non-regulatory, incentive approach to driving responsible shipping behaviour. Public recognition is awarded to participants based on the percent of distance travelled by all of their vessels through the VSR Zones at whale-safer speeds. Each participating vessel transiting has its speeds verified via analysis of Automatic Identification System (AIS) data. If an enrolled company is unable to meet the minimum threshold for participation, there is no penalty and public recognition is not provided.

2024 VSR season recognition

Programme Ambassadors The Block Logistics, Who Gives A Crap, Eggboards, Nomad Goods, and JAS Worldwide received whale tails for having the vast majority of their eligible shipments with participating lines. Port of Hueneme also was recognised for the majority of ships calling on the port participating.