Swire National Oceanographic Centre Ocean Monitoring System (SNOMS)
CNCo supported the UK National Oceanography Centre through a decade long SNOMS programme, a part of the ocean monitoring project, by installing monitoring equipment on board one of our liner vessels. Unfortunately, in 2019, due to operational funding issues, the National Oceanography Centre decided to discontinue data collection using the CNCo vessel MV Shengking and will be decommissioning the monitoring equipment in 2020.
Supporting Vancouver Fraser Port Authority's commitment to saving whales
The Enhancing Cetacean Habitat and Observation (ECHO) Programme is a Vancouver Fraser Port Authority-led initiative aimed at better understanding and managing the impact of shipping activities on at-risk whales throughout the southern coast of British Columbia.
The long-term goal of the ECHO Programme is to develop mitigation measures that will lead to a quantifiable reduction in potential threats to whales as a result of shipping activities. The initiative aims to save the location-specific population of southern resident killer whales.
This programme started in 2017 and is ongoing. During the active months of the programme, vessels are reducing speed to less than 12 knots during transits of sensitive areas.
CNCo participates in this voluntary speed reduction initiative on West Coast Canada under the ECHO Programme to do its part for the recovery and survival of the local sub-species of killer whales. Speed reduction applied to a small area named Haro Strait. This is a 16.6 nautical mile distance in the Southern Pilotage waters. With speed reduction and depending on vessel type, transit times may increase between 11 and 18 minutes.
In 2019, the programme took place between 28th September and 11th October.
In 2019, CNCo was recognised for its efforts with the Blue Circle Award. See article: CNCo vessels recognised for environmental stewardship at 2019 Blue Circle Awards.
CNCo has been supporting the UK National Oceanography Centre (NOC) through a multi-year Swire National Oceanography Centre Ocean Monitoring System (SNOMS) programme, a part of the ocean monitoring project, by installing monitoring equipment on board one of CNCo's liner vessels. From 2009 until the retirement of the MV Pacific Celebes in 2012, the ocean monitoring unit recorded met-ocean data in the Pacific Ocean between Australia and Canada.
In the second part of the programme, CNCo sponsored the upgrading and reinstallation of the SNOMS data collection box and the ongoing operational data collection expenses. The measuring devices were installed on MV Shengking in 2016 to provide vital data on the oceans' ability to slow the build-up of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and mitigate ocean acidification, which is leading to coral bleaching and loss of crustaceans with calcite shells.
Simon Bennett, who leads CNCo's sustainability efforts, delivered a talk at the National Oceanography Centre UK, Industry / Science Observing Forum on 19th March 2019, where he was presented with a plaque commemorating the 10-year collaboration between CNCo and NOC.
Below: Simon Bennett, General Manager – Sustainable Development, CNCo and SPO, receiving the plaque from Richard Sanders, OTC Director, NORCE
