By Julie Gedeon
New Orleans – Green Marine welcomed more than 200 delegates to GreenTech 2025 in New Orleans from June 9th to11th. The event marked the first time the annual conference took place on the Gulf Coast.
“Louisiana was the obvious choice with the Port of New Orleans being among the first ports from the Gulf region to join Green Marine and a real champion of the program,” Green Marine International’s CEO David Bolduc said in a welcoming address.
He thanked the conference delegates and sponsors for their unwavering support for the program at an uncertain time in trade and border relations. “Green Marine has deep roots in both Canada and the United States, having started off as a binational initiative in 2007,” he noted. “The ups and downs in the relationship between our two countries over the past few months were unexpected and they complicated some of the conference’s logistics but, whatever’s happening at the political level, I see Green Marine members staying the course, and that the motivation to work together for a more sustainable shipping industry is alive and well.”
Participation in the North American program has expanded significantly, with terminal operators in particular adding locations for annual certification. LOGISTEC currently leads the pack with 30 certified locations.
LOGISTEC’s CEO Sean Pierce cited the (Trump-ignited) tariff conflict and related supply chain uncertainties as the greatest challenge now facing the industry. “You really have to work closely with your customers to help them to figure out their supply chain both short and long term – so what we can do in terms of free-trade zones and how fast we can have goods up and running in support of our customers,” he said.
He noted customers aren’t panicking. “They are being much more thoughtful and calculating in terms of when they ship and we’re helping them with these decisions.”
Kristin Decas, the CEO and director of the Port of Hueneme, noted the role of the American Association of Port Authorities and other industry organizations in having an influential voice on policies. “The strategy now is to determine what voice will be heard that will resonate with the administration to influence policy,” she said. “Our customers are not making major changes to the supply chain because it’s very expensive to do that in a kneejerk reaction – so everyone is taking a deep breath and seeing what will happen with the supply chain as they try to influence change.”
Conference topics ranged from the implementation of next fuels such as hydrogen to port electrification considerations to reducing underwater noise.
(Dreamstime photo of New Orleans and Green Marine photo of conference delegates)