Central Coast Clean Cities Coalition

On June 11th, the Port of Hueneme in Oxnard, CA hosted “Catalyzing Action for our Ocean & Climate,” an event in recognition of World Ocean Day. It was an inspiring day filled with learning, celebrating successes, and connecting with others who are also passionate about reducing air pollution and ambient ocean noise. Special thanks to Alex Economou, Santa Barbara County Air Pollution Control District Planning Division Manager and C5 Director, for representing Santa Barbara County APCD, a proud partner of the Protecting Blue Whales and Blue Skies Program, at the event. Some of the event highlights are as follows:   Port of Hueneme Decarbonization Announcement: The excitement of the event began as the Port of Hueneme announced its Blueprint to Zero Emissions – an action plan with the goal of making Port operations zero emissions by 2030. C5 applauds the Port of Hueneme’s leadership in the Port decarbonization space.    Protecting Blue Whales and Blue Skies 2023 Vessel Speed Reduction Report: The Protecting Blue Whales and Blue Skies program is a partnership that helps shipping companies reduce their environmental impact along the coast of California. Protecting Blue Whales and Blue Skies monitors the speeds of hundreds of vessels that pass through the VSR zones each year and assigns recognition levels to participating shipping companies based on the percentage of their vessels that travel at a speed of 10 knots or less. Program partners, including federal and local government agencies, foundations, and nonprofit organizations, collaborated to unveil VSR metrics for the 2023 season during the event. Last year marked the highest enrollment and cooperation rate in the program's history, producing 375,000 slow-speed nautical miles in VSR zones traversed by 700+ participating vessels from 33 shipping companies. In 2023, shipping companies that participated in the program helped reduced 1,200 tons of NOx emissions and 45,000 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions.  Honoring of Partner Shipping Companies: An awards ceremony was held to celebrate shipping companies who participated in the voluntary VSR program in 2023. Awards were based off of compliance percentage, with companies at 65% or higher speed reduction compliance awarded Gold status, and companies at 80% or higher speed reduction compliance awarded Sapphire status. Nine shipping companies were presented awards at the ceremony (K Line America Inc, Maersk, Hyundai Glovis, Wallenius Wilhelmsen, NYK Line, Evergreen, CMA CGM, Hapag-Lloyd, and CSL Americas). Congratulations to the awardees for your participation in the Protecting Blue Whales and Blue Skies program!