September 23, 2020
Happy World Maritime Day!
World Maritime Day, celebrated each year on September 24, highlights the importance of the shipping and maritime activities, and brings focus to relevant topics impacting our industry.
This year’s theme is “sustainable shipping for a sustainable planet,” but we would be remiss not to begin by acknowledging the commitment and sacrifice made by the world’s seafarers throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. The heart and soul of our industry are seafarers – they keep the global supply chain moving even as the rest of the world comes to a halt. We are grateful to our own colleagues at sea for delivering energy to the world with exceptional #TeekaySpirit in unprecedented times.
The shipping industry as a whole is facing unique challenges related to the effects of global lockdown: restricted port access, difficulty re-suppling vessels, and most concerning of all, challenges in completing crew changes and repatriations. At Teekay, our teams have been working tirelessly to mitigate these issues while working with international governing bodies to lobby for change.
Outside of these immediate issues that we have dedicated our focus to, it has also been important for us to keep sight of longer-terms challenges the world is facing.
In line with this year’s theme for World Maritime Day of “sustainable shipping for a sustainable planet,” we are excited to further our commitment by announcing that Teekay Corporation, Teekay LNG Partners L.P., and Teekay Tankers Ltd. (collectively the Teekay Group) have joined the United Nations Global Compact.
This global initiative encourages companies to align their operations and strategies with ten universal principles in the areas of human rights, labor, environment, and anti-corruption, and to take action in support of UN goals and issues embodied in their Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
These ten principles align with Teekay’s Core Values and reinforce our long-standing commitment to responsible safety and environmental practices. You can learn more about each of the ten principles and how our core policies at Teekay support them in the attached fact sheet.
As a leading oil and gas transportation company, we cannot separate ourselves from the longer-term challenges that the world is facing. This alignment represents one part of our ongoing commitment to bring sustainability to the forefront of our work as part of our ESG focus.
Earlier this year, the Teekay Group published its 2019 Sustainability Report, and we look forward to continue reporting on our annual progress to support these UN Global Compact principles in future.
learn more about each of the ten principles and how our core policies at Teekay support them, click on our fact sheet below.