ERL’s EverGreen Seal gets AWO safety award

EverGreen Seal replaces current braided Teflon gaskets and reduces cargo vapor emissions from tank barge hatches by more than 90%

The American Waterways Operators reports that its Tankering & Barge Operations Subcommittee has presented AWO affiliate member ERL Inc. with the panel’s third annual safety award.

The award was given to ERL for the creation and testing of its EverGreen Seal. The EverGreen Seal replaces current braided Teflon gaskets and reduces cargo vapor emissions from tank barge hatches by more than 90%, improving safety for mariners and shore tankering personnel as well as environmental sustainability.

The award was presented during AWO’s Summer Safety Committees’ meeting in Chicago by the subcommittee’s newly elected chairman, PSC Group vice president of marine & plant operations Josh Dixon, to ERL Inc. Vice President Houston, Craig Theiler.

Stephen Wilkins, CEO of ERL Inc., said, “I would like to thank the AWO Tankering and Barge Subcommittee for choosing ERL Inc. for the Third Annual Safety Award. It is an honor to be a part of AWO, which continues to improve maritime safety and environmental sustainability. We are proud of the team at ERL that develop and manufacture innovative products, like the EverGreen Seal, that reduce emissions, prevent spills, and increase tankerman and deckhand safety.”

“We were honored to have received the 2022 AWO Annual Safety Award,” said Craig Theiler, VP Houston, ERL Inc. “This accolade not only highlights ERL’s desire to partner with our customers in innovating new products, but it also demonstrates AWO’s and the entire domestic maritime industry’s commitment to improving operations in a safe and sustainable manner. We look forward to continuing our relationship with our industry partners to develop new products and innovate on existing ones in our collective effort to continuously improve the safety, reliability, and efficiency of domestic maritime transportation.”

ERL Inc. vice president Todd Marshall said: “Thanks to AWO for being good stewards of our working environment through actively promoting engineered solutions for a safer world for us all. We at ERL take the safety of our mariners and the preservation of the environment very seriously and are honored to be recognized by our peers with this safety award.”

“AWO applauds ERL Inc. on this well-deserved award,” said AWO president & CEO Jennifer Carpenter. “ERL Inc. and their EverGreen Seal are a shining example of the ingenuity and innovation that are propelling the tugboat, towboat and barge industry forward into the future. Their leadership is a fantastic representation of AWO members’ commitment to mariner safety and environmental sustainability.”

The first and second annual safety awards were presented in 2020 and 2021 by the Subcommittee on Tankering & Barge Operations to AWO affiliate members CITGO Petroleum Corporation’s Lake Charles, La., marine department and facility and Arcosa Marine Products, Inc., respectively.