The Phase 1 Pilot Project was completed in January, 2010. Find it in the Public Library. This report confirmed that such an assessment is technically feasible and meets a demand in the maritime community. Specifically, this project:
Developed a checklist of environmental topics that holistically addresses areas of marine vessel environmental impacts including Energy Efficiency, Air Emissions, Water Emissions, and other General Measures.
Analyzed three specific environmental impact topics as proof cases to document system utility and to identify technical development challenges.
Obtained feedback from the maritime community to confirm that industry needs this information to support design issues, as well as to assess issues such as reductions in port fees, reduced insurance rates, preferential cargo handling, and/or support of corporate environmental policy.
Phase 2 will complete the technical assessment process by writing Performance Assessment Guides for all of the checklist's environmental impacts. The effort will leverage the established Technical & Research (T&R) infrastructure of the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers (SNAME), and culminate with the technical Guides published as a SNAME T&R Bulletin. We are now seeking authors, reviewers, and sponsors for Phase 2.
Phase 3 will deploy these assessment criteria throughout the international marine industry, as an important, relevant reference document to any:
1. Vessel designer seeking guidance on environmental design practices.
2. Public entity that needs to assess a marine vessel’s impact on the environment.
3. Vessel owner seeking recognition on environmental performance.
4. Classification agency or regulatory body that would find this information useful in developing classification notations, a rating system, or calculating “environmental credits” like carbon credits are calculated today.
The primary benefits of this effort are reductions in air and water pollution, and improvement in energy efficiency. With an established assessment system, vessel owners will have a knowledge-based framework where they can implement practices intelligently. By understanding the relative impacts, the breadth and depth of environmental stewardship will grow, industry based solutions can move ahead of regulation, and effective emerging technology will be promoted.