News Letter

June 23, 2021: The North American Marine Environment Protection Association (NAMEPA) is pleased to announce that corporate member, Genco Shipping & Trading (NYSE: GNK), will be sponsoring an international beach cleanup day on June 30^th, 2021. Genco offices in New York, Denmark and Singapore will be joining NAMEPA in efforts to Save Our Seas on a global level. While many people are trying to escape the summer heat and engage in COVID-19 safe outdoor activities, the beaches of the world become accidental dumping grounds to excessive amounts of trash.

Dedicated to environmental stewardship and sustainability, NAMEPA and Genco are well versed in the volume of debris that ends up in our ocean every day and are actively working to mitigate its impacts . NAMEPA recently received the Green4Sea Award for their CSR/ESG (Corporate Social Responsibility/Environment, Social and Governance) Maritime Sustainability Program, the first known standards program for maritime industry. Genco, being one of the largest dry bulk shipping companies in the world, regularly integrates ESG practices in their operational and strategic decision making, recently receiving high marks on the Webber ESG scale. In 2019, Genco and NAMEPA teamed up on a local level and cleaned up a Coney Island , which resulted in over 300 pounds of trash being collected.

Once again, Genco and NAMEPA will team up, but in an effort to enhance their impact have invited the Genco Denmark and Singapore offices to join. All offices will descend upon their local beaches so that everyone across the globe can continue to enjoy our waterways. To showcase their dedication behind efforts to Save Our Seas, senior leadership from all organization offices will be participating.

About NAMEPA 

The North American Marine Environment Protection Association (NAMEPA) is a marine industry-led organization of environmental stewards preserving the marine environment by promoting sustainable marine industry best practices and educating seafarers, students and the public about the need and strategies for protecting global ocean, lake and river resources. Visit us at: www.namepa.net. 

About GENCO 

Genco Shipping & Trading Limited is a leading provider of international seaborne drybulk transportation services. We transport iron ore, coal, grain, steel products and other drybulk cargoes along worldwide shipping routes. Our wholly owned modern and diverse fleet of dry cargo vessels consists of Capesize, Ultramax and Supramax vessels that provide an essential link in international trade. Visit Genco at: www.gencoshipping.com 

June 15, 2021: On June 8^th, The North American Marine Environment Protection Association (NAMEPA) partnered with their member Fairfield Chemical Carriers (FCC) to celebrate World Ocean Day through a waterway cleanup. In 2008, the United Nations declared June 8^th as World Ocean Day in order to recognize the vital human connection with the ocean and the value it provides to all life on Earth. It is a day to raise awareness about the need to protect the ocean and the responsibility that each individual has on maintaining its health. Furthermore, as climate change continues to degrade and alter the environment, this day is more important than ever to raise urgency on the importance of making sustainable choices, working to protect the ocean, and on how our daily actions impact the ocean ecosystem. NAMEPA is proud to be partnering with Fairfield Chemical Carriers to help Save Our Seas.

Despite the challenges COVID-19 has posed, the UN virtually hosted this year’s World Ocean Day, with a theme of “The Ocean: Life and Livelihoods.” The theme illuminated how crucial the ocean is in sustaining human physical, cultural, and economic life as well as the life of all species (UN, 2021). This year’s theme was especially important as it was the lead up to the UN’s “Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development” where, from 2021-2030, the UN will work to strengthen international involvement in oceanic scientific research and technology (UN, 2021). World Ocean Day 2021 fell at a time when the world was, and still is, facing devastating health and climatic issues, making it a critical time for the global community to unite and work to protect our ocean.

At 1pm on June 8^th, NAMEPA, Fairfield Chemical Carriers, and a contact from the City of Nowalk, Luis Estrella, met in Norwalk for a brief overview and safety instructions. They then split into groups to clean up areas along the Norwalk River at 40 Cross Street as well as Veteran’s Park and Marina. The cleanup was very successful with a lot of trash collected, ranging from cigarette butts to soda cans, and even a cherub figurine and flipflops. At the end of the 2-hour cleanup, NAMEPA and FCC had collected 10 bags of debris which weighed 94 pounds in total! Through our partnership, Fairfield Chemical Carriers supports NAMEPA in our mission to educate, advocate, and activate the maritime industry, as well as encourage students of all ages and the general public to Save Our Seas.

For this year’s World Ocean Day, NAMEPA sought to create meaningful connections with local partners and help reduce the amount of waste going into the ocean. NAMEPA also wanted to highlight that 80% of all ocean trash originates from land. NAMEPA focused on cleaning the Norwalk River to decrease the amount of waste that could travel down the river and into the ocean. By teaming up with Fairfield Chemical Carriers and the City of Norwalk, not only did NAMEPA strengthen preexisting relationships, but built new ones. When confronting pollution and the degradation of our environment, it is important to work with others and to build relationships around helping protect our Earth. These collaborations will provide NAMEPA with opportunities to do more cleanups in the future and continue to engage others to help Save Our Seas.

The North American Marine Environment Protection Association (NAMEPA) is a marine industry-led organization of environmental stewards preserving the marine environment by promoting sustainable marine industry best practices and educating seafarers, students and the public about the need and strategies for protecting global ocean, lake and river resources. Visit us at: www.namepa.net  

Media inquiries: Carleen Lyden Walker +203 255 4868 executivedirector@namepa.net 

Fairfield Chemical Carriers is committed to being the chemical tanker operator of choice in its selected markets; to providing its customers with top quality and reliable service – creative, proactive, and always client focused; to maintaining the highest standards for safety and efficiency in the operation of its fleet; and, above, all, to conducting all its activities professionally, ethically and in a socially responsible manner.

For more information, go to https://fairfieldchemical.com/

The World Maritime University’s (WMU) research and capacity building programme on Empowering Women for the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (Empowering Women Programme) has been endorsed as a Decade Action of the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (Ocean Decade). The Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (IOC-UNESCO) announced the endorsement on World Oceans Day, 8 June 2021. 

WMU’s Empowering Women Programme is generously sponsored by Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO), with additional support from The Nippon Foundation, and is delivered through a multidisciplinary team at the WMU-Sasakawa Global Ocean Institute. The Programme will enhance capacity to explore and promote women's empowerment and gender equality in the conduct of ocean science and in science-dependent governance systems. Research findings will identify key barriers and good practice contributing to a proposed Strategy and Action Plan to help deliver equal opportunities for full participation and leadership by women at all levels of ocean science under the Ocean Decade. The Programme will enhance ongoing collaborations with partners including intergovernmental organizations, non-governmental organizations, government agencies, research institutes, universities, and individuals to deliver substantive research outputs contributing to transformative actions.

Regarding the endorsement, Dr. Cleopatra Doumbia-Henry, President of WMU said, “The Ocean Decade provides a golden opportunity to achieve gender equality in ocean science. I firmly believe that through a range of initiatives, the Empowering Women Programme, delivered by the WMU-Sasakawa Global Ocean Institute, will enhance the capacity to explore and promote women’s empowerment and gender equality in the conduct of ocean science, as well as in science-dependent governance systems. The Programme is committed to contributing transformative actions to empower women from all backgrounds for the Ocean Decade. We could not be more pleased that the importance of this Programme has been duly recognized by IOC-UNESCO with recognition as an official Ocean Decade Action.”

The IOC-UNESCO Decade Action endorsement of the Empowering Women Programme is a milestone in WMU’s involvement in the Ocean Decade, and furthers the University’s substantive efforts to promote gender equality in line with Goal 5 of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. It recognizes that WMU’s Empowering Women Programme will play a central role in supporting the Ocean Decade mission to catalyze transformative ocean science solutions for sustainable development. Through advancing women’s participation in ocean science at all levels, the Programme supports the achievement of the Ocean Decade vision by advocating for ‘the people we need for the ocean we want’.

To learn more about DFO-WMU’s Empowering Women Programme, click here.

To access the IOC-UNESCO Decade Action endorsement announcement, click here.

About the IOC-UNESCO Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development

Proclaimed in 2017 by the United Nations General Assembly, the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021-2030 ‘the Ocean Decade’) seeks to stimulate ocean science and knowledge generation to reverse the decline of the state of the ocean system and catalyse new opportunities for sustainable development of this massive marine ecosystem. The vision of the Ocean Decade is ‘the science we need for the ocean we want’. The Ocean Decade provides a convening framework for scientists and stakeholders from diverse sectors to develop the scientific knowledge and the partnerships needed to accelerate and harness advances in ocean science to achieve a better understanding of the ocean system, and to deliver science-based solutions to achieve the 2030 Agenda. The UN General Assembly mandated UNESCO's Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) to coordinate the preparations and implementation of the Decade. 

About the World Maritime University and the WMU-Sasakawa Global Ocean Institute

The World Maritime University (WMU) in Malmö, Sweden is established within the framework of the International Maritime Organization, a specialized agency of the United Nations. The mission of WMU is to be the world centre of excellence in postgraduate maritime and oceans education, professional training and research, while building global capacity and promoting sustainable development. WMU’s vision is to inspire leadership and innovation for a sustainable maritime and oceans future. WMU is an organization by and for the international maritime community and is committed to the United Nations 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda.

The WMU-Sasakawa Global Ocean Institute was inaugurated in May 2018 and made possible through generous support from The Nippon Foundation of Japan, the Governments of Sweden, Canada, and Germany, as well as the City of Malmö. The vision of the Institute is to act as an independent focal point for the ocean science-policy-law-industry-society interface where policy makers, the scientific community, regulators, industry actors, academics, and representatives of civil society meet to discuss how best to manage and use ocean spaces and their resources in accordance with the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.