Photo courtesy of Georgia Ports Authority Honorees at the Georgia Ports Maritime Safety Council 2010 Safest Stevedore Awards include Ceres Marine Terminals (safest stevedore), Ports America (most improved stevedore company) and Atlantic Container Service, Inc. (safest maintenance and repair company).
For the third year in a row, the Georgia Ports Maritime Safety Council has honored Ceres Marine Terminals, Inc. as its safest stevedore company. Ports America was awarded the most improved stevedore company, while Atlantic Container Service, Inc. was honored as safest maintenance and repair company.
A stevedore is the superintendent in charge of loading and unloading a vessel, directing the stowage of cargo and coordinating the activities of the longshoremen. Ceres again beat out all other stevedoring companies based on its overall total personal injury incident frequency rate in 2010.
“Safety is our top priority at the Georgia Ports Authority,” GPA’s executive director Curtis J. Foltz said in congratulating Ceres.
“The work of the Maritime Safety Council is a great example of how our industry partners — including the international longshoremen, stevedores, over-the-road truckers, maintenance and repair personnel and others — have come together to identify and further encourage safety on our facilities.”
The council is a collaboration among the Georgia Ports management team, the Georgia Stevedores Association and other port stakeholders to increase safety on terminals. It meets monthly to review waterfront incidents and to discuss strategies to increase safety on terminals.
In the last three years, the overall personal injury incident rate for stevedores at the Port of Savannah has decreased 18 percent. The incident rate for maintenance and repair companies decreased more than 40 percent for the same time period.
“Our employees and service providers work together as a team to eliminate risk,” said GPA’s chief operating officer Griffith V. Lynch. Doing our jobs the right way leads to faster and more efficient productivity,” he said.
New recognitions for this year included the most improved stevedore company and the safest maintenance and repair company. Ports America was awarded the most improved stevedore company, while Atlantic Container Service, Inc. was honored as safest maintenance and repair company.