Canada Maritime (Canmar) marine operations department has become the first Europe-based container-shipping specialist to receive ISO 14001 Environmental Management Systems (EMS) standard certification. EMS covers areas such as ship-scrapping, ballast water, hazardous cargo, sub-contractor relationships, waste and sewage management, dry-docking and the use of anti-fouling paints. 'Because the ISO 14001 standard has been around for just three years, and is voluntary, this is relatively uncharted water,' Canmar executive chairman Mike Jordan said. Will Bartle, who heads Canmar's EMS monitoring team, said: 'With our environmental responsibilities becoming more and more complex, the adaptation of our Environmental Management Systems to ISO 14001 makes it easier to manage our compliance going forward.' Canmar is working towards extending the scope of the certification beyond its headquarters team to cover its entire marine operations activities. 'ISO 14001 not only makes good environmental sense, it makes good business sense, too,' Mr Jordan said. By implementing this standard across all of the company's marine operations processes, Canmar would be in a position to realise significant cost savings, for example, in terms of improved energy efficiency or lower insurance premiums, he said. Mr Jordan said the ISO 14001 certification showed the company's intention to be proactive about environmental management, both at sea and ashore. 'It is also in keeping with a commitment by our parent company, Canadian Pacific Limited, to not only meet, but exceed accepted environmental management standards wherever its subsidiaries operate,' he said. As this was the second ISO certification which the company had achieved, it also demonstrated Canmar's continuing innovation across a broad spectrum of business processes, he said. The certification initially covers Canmar's marine operations team based at the line's Horley headquarters in Britain. The team's interface with the Canmar fleet, which comprises 15 ice-strengthened container ships, is an integral part of the certification. The ships themselves are accredited to ISO 9002 and are also compliant with the International Safety Management Code, which has been in force since July last year. Canmar operates two container services over five routes between North America and northern and Mediterranean Europe. Canmar is part of CP Ships, the container-shipping business of Canadian Pacific.
