MATSON Navigation Company has received the US Coast Guard's 2012 Rear Admiral William M. Benkert Marine Environmental Award for Excellence for the second time in six years.

The Benkert Award was created to recognise outstanding achievements in marine environmental protection that go beyond mere compliance with industrial and regulatory standards.

"Matson is the only carrier in the world to have a zero discharge policy - this means that nothing is discharged into the ocean, with the exception of food scraps," said company president Matt Cox. "We also believe that where existing laws and regulations do not provide adequate controls to ensure the protection of the environment, we establish and adhere to our own more stringent standards."

Ron Forest, senior vice president, operations said: "When we were first honoured with the Benkert Award in 2006, Matson and SSA Terminals had just signed a new 'green port' lease agreement with the Port of Long Beach, which involved a commitment to reduce air emissions in port by shutting off our vessel diesel generators and plugging into the local electrical grid, a process called cold ironing."

He continued: "This technology set a new standard for terminal leases in Long Beach. Because the concept of using a dockside electrical infrastructure to power ships while in port was new, the project involved innovative engineering work. By the end of this year, all of Matson's motor ships that call Long Beach will plug in, making our terminal facility a 100 per cent cold ironing operation, far ahead of the regulations set by the California Air Resources Board."

In addition, the company has also partnered with the US Coast Guard in testing a ballast water treatment system on one of its vessels. The success of that project led to Matson having one of the first ships to receive approval for the testing under the Coast Guard's Shipboard Technology Evaluation Program.