Awards and Accolades for Freight and Logistics Groups for Environmental and Social Progress

DENMARK – UK – NETHERLANDS – Awards showered on the freight and logistics sector this week include environmental, social and performance related accolades spread across Europe. Firstly the development of the world’s first methanol powered RoRo ferry by the Stena Group, covered in detail in our article last month, has been rewarded with a ‘Ship Owner of the Year’ title at the recent Green Ship Technology Conference (GST), held in Copenhagen.

The prize is awarded for ‘innovative new technology presented since 1 January 2014 that represents an advance for the marine environment’ and the jury selected the conversion of the Stena Germanica on the grounds that it was ‘a strong 3rd alternative that is developing to meet the specific challenge of sustainable sea transport within the Emission Control Area (ECA)’. Carl-Johan Hagman, CEO of Stena Line commented:

“We are naturally delighted about the jury naming our methanol project as the winner of this year’s GST Award. It is an important project, both for us as a company and for the entire industry, as we need more long-term sustainable fuel alternatives in order to remain competitive. We want to thank our partners Wärtsilä, Methanex, the Port of Gothenburg and the Port of Kiel.”

In the UK the Port of Tilbury picked up a prestigious award for their port based Training Academy at the Worshipful Company of Carmen annual awards in London. The Herbert Crow Memorial Award was presented to Perry Glading and Simon Harper from the port at the annual awards dinner in the Guildhall which recognises significant achievements, contributions and innovation of individuals, companies and the armed forces. The award was for the port’s training academy which was established in 2014 and has seen over 100 trainees, apprentices and advanced apprentices go through their bespoke training programmes. Perry Glading, Chief Operating Officer at Forth Ports (owners of the Port of Tilbury), said:

"I am delighted to collect this award on behalf of everyone involved in our training academy. Having a skilled workforce is key to delivering the service level our customers expect from a major port. In the last two years the Port has taken on 30 apprentices (5% of the workforce) with imminent plans to take on a further 15. We are an important employer in the area with over 800 people directly employed at the port and we contribute to the local economy with over 8000 jobs depending on us to continue to be successful.”

As senior representatives of the global air cargo community gathered for this year’s IATA World Cargo Symposium in Shanghai, Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport was once again ranked top major European airport (over 1 million tonnes per annum), in this year’s Air Cargo Excellence Survey. The airport section of the Air Cargo Excellence Awards is based on airlines’ votes on performance, value, facilities and operations and Schiphol’s 2015 overall winning score of 116 points shows yet another improvement on its performance of recent years: in 2012 (103 points), in 2013 (106) and in 2014 (113). Schiphol Cargo Senior VP Enno Osinga observed:

“We are very pleased and proud that Schiphol has once again taken top place in this important category of the Air Cargo Excellence Awards. We thank the organisers, and all those who have ranked Schiphol so highly. This award is welcome recognition for the efforts of my own team, our fellow stakeholders and our community. Their vision, collaboration and enthusiasm all contribute to the improving customer experience for everyone who uses Schiphol, from airlines to importers and exporters. We continue to support all initiatives that drive process improvement at Schiphol and industry-wide, and we hope our achievements may inspire others to work with us for a stronger and better air cargo industry.”