Green Marine environmental program expands to Australia, the Bahamas and Mexico

Green Marine International has made its voluntary environmental certification program available to the maritime industry in more countries such as Australia, the Bahamas and Mexico, after determining that its performance criteria are sufficiently challenging beyond each nation’s existing regulations.

“We’re delighted to further open the Green Marine program to the maritime operations in Australia, the Bahamas, and Mexico, and to already welcome new participants from each of these countries,” David Bolduc, Green Marine International’s President and CEO, commented.

“Their participation bolsters the strength of the program in North America and Europe and raises the global bar for maritime transportation’s environmental sustainability.”

As informed, the newest participants are Grand Bahama Shipyard, SSA Marine Mexico, the Port Authority of New South Wales, and Manly Fast Ferry. The Port of Brisbane, which also took part in the pilot projects, is currently working on its formal certification and expects to confirm its membership momentarily.

“It’s exciting to have the Green Marine program expanded in Australia with these key ports and ferry operators,” Bolduc added.

“It’s also momentous to expand the North American program into Mexico through the nation’s leading terminal operator and to the Caribbean shipyard pivotal to the region’s cargo and cruise operations.”

The program’s expansion follows pilot projects launched in June 2024 in response to interest from marine operators in Australia, the Bahamas, and Mexico joining the program.

“By voluntarily agreeing to ‘test drive’ the program’s environmental performance indicators by applying them to their sustainability efforts, these maritime operators helped us to determine whether the criteria are sufficiently challenging beyond all mandatory requirements at each of the program’s five more progressively demanding levels,” Brittney Blokker, Green Marine Program Manager, said.

The new participants are working towards evaluating their environmental performance throughout 2024 for certification next month.

Green Marine International is the governance structure overseeing the environmental certification programs in North America, Europe and, as of 2025, in Australia and the Caribbean.

Meanwhile, Green Marine Europe is working on expanding its environmental program to ports, which will be able to pursue certification in 2026. Several ports participate in the pilot project to adapt the program criteria to the European regulatory framework.

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