Marine Towing of Tampa pursues Green Marine certification

Marine Towing of Tampa, LLC, an owner and operator of ship docking tugs in Florida’s Tampa Bay region, has joined Green Marine, the voluntary environmental certification program for North America’s maritime industry.

The company provides ship-assist services at Port Tampa Bay, Port Manatee and at all facilities throughout the Tampa Bay area.

Its fleet is comprised entirely of high horse-power Z-drive tugs that more effectively deliver the power required in close quarters.

Steve Swindal, chair and majority owner of Maine Towing of Tampa, said: “We believe that state-of-the-art equipment is essential to provide our customers with first-class service and our community with a sustainable business. We pride ourselves on regular fleet renewal to improve efficiencies and look forward to determining what else we can do to reduce our footprint as we pursue Green Marine certification.”

David Bolduc, Green Marine’s president, welcomed the company to the environmental certification program: “The company will no doubt bring a lot of expertise and experience to the table when it comes to discussing the future sustainability of tugboat operations. Marine Towing will also have access to a wide network of ship owners with similar operations at various ports throughout North America.”

To achieve Green Marine certification, Marine Towing of Tampa will assess its environmental performance through indicators that address such issues as greenhouse gases, air emissions, oily discharge, underwater noise, and waste management.

According to Green Marine, the certification process is rigorous and transparent, with results independently verified every two years and each participant’s individual performance made public annually.

At the end of March, Green Marine was joined by Shaver Transportation as the first tug and barge operator on the US West Coast and Columbia Snake River System to participate in the program.

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