Vessel Speed Reduction (VSR) Season is a time when, in an effort to protect migrating endangered whales, and respond to California coastal communities’ peak ozone season, an organization called Protecting Blue Whales and Blue Skies (BWBS) asks seagoing vessels to slow down.
Every year, some 20,000 whales are killed by ships in what are known as ship strikes. One effective way to reduce the number of deaths is for the ships to slow down, especially during VSR season. In 2024, BWBS verified that 743 vessels, across 49 of the world’s largest shipping lines opted-in to reduce their speeds. This was the program’s 10th anniversary and marked the most significant effort so far. The number of shipping lines participating increased by nearly 50% and there was an increase in distance traveled at “whale-safer” speeds.
Vessels are critical to our economy, with roughly 90% of the world’s trade facilitated by the maritime industry. BWBS said the average container ship measures approximately four football fields, carrying about 15,000 standard 20-foot containers. These vessels carry goods and materials across the world’s oceans, often overlapping with important habitat for marine life. For marine species like whales, which have not evolved to avoid these massive ships, this can result in deadly ship strikes.
However, if large vessels reduce their speeds to 10 knots or less in these areas when the likelihood of whale presence is highest, the risk of fatal strikes is reduced by 50% or more. Furthermore, reduced speeds result in fewer emissions of air pollutants and greenhouse gases. This is why BWBS works to incentivize global shipping lines to voluntarily participate in vessel speed reduction measures in key areas off of the California coast.
The organization ranks shipping lines by the number of miles traveled in the VSR zones at 10 knots or less. The top tier travels 85% at the desired speed in those zones and the number of companies that qualified almost doubled from the prior season. They include
CMA CGM; Connaught Shipmanagement HK; COSCO Shipping; CSL Americas; Hong Kong Top Honor Shipping; ISM Ship Management Ltd; Maersk; Marathon Petroleum; MSC; NYK Ro-Ro; Ocean Network Express; OOCL; OSG Ship Management, Inc.; Pilion Navigation; ConocoPhillips – Polar Tankers; Starbulk SA; STX Marine Service Co; Swire Shipping; Teo Shipping Corporation; Tomini Transports LLC; Toyofuji; Wallenius Wilhelmsen; and Yang Ming Marine Transport Corp.
The shipping lines that qualified for the next award tier (Gold, 60-84% cooperation rate) included:
Campbell Shipping Company, D’Amico Group; Dockendale; Empire Bulker Ltd.; Evergreen; Hapag-Lloyd; HMC Shipmanagement Co Ltd; Hyundai Glovis; K Line; Mol ACE; Pacific Basin Shipping Ltd. ; Raffles Shipmanagement Services; Scorpio Group; Temm Maritime Co Ltd; Unisea Shipping Ltd; Venture Shipping Ltd; Veritas Shipmanagement and Wan Hai.
Overall, 85% of the total distance traveled by participating vessels–425,981 nautical miles –was traveled at the requested whale-safer speeds of 10 knots or less. Out of all of the traffic traveling within the VSR zones, 78% of all container ships and 97% of all auto/RORO ships elected to participate in the BWBS program.
