Two high profile North Queensland marinas β Coral Sea Marina Resort and Hamilton Island Marina have been certified as Level 3 Clean Marinas by the Marina Industries Association.
Both marinas are major tourist destination and boating hubs due to their location on the Great Barrier Reef south of Cairns. Hamilton Island is known internationally as the host of the annual Audi Hamilton Island Race Week in August while Coral Sea Marina Resort has positioned itself as the Gateway to the Whitsundays and was a major focal point on 13 January this year when the marina hosted the famous Clipper Round the World Race stopover.
The International Clean Marinas environmental program is administered by the Marina Industries Association (MIA) and a Level 3 accreditation requires a solid commitment from participating marinas to environmental best practice. The rigorous process includes a site inspection assessed against a 103 point checklist. The site audit of key operational areas includes inspections of mechanical activities, boat maintenance and storage, fuelling, facility management, workshop, mechanical, shipwright and boat repair, emergency planning and equipment and boater education. A written report with detailed feedback is provided to the marina.
Coral Sea Marina Resortβs Business Development Manager, Luke McCaul, said the achievement of Clean Marina accreditation was another important step in demonstrating Abell Pointβs commitment to environmental best practice. βAs a multi-faceted marina facility it is essential all components are operating both individually and collectively at the highest level of performance. The Clean Marinas program provides us with specific criteria to assess the environmental performance of our marina operations and complements our environmental policies, plans and operations.β
David Boyd, Hamilton Islandβs General Manager – Retail, Activities & Marina, said, βHamilton Island is proud to be recognised as a Clean Marina under the MIA program. Being able to fly the Clean Marina flag is an important signal that we are committed to high environmental standards as is the whole Whitsundays marine region. β
MIA Executive Officer, Colin Bransgrove said βThis significant achievement by two high profile facilities is important for the marina industry as they demonstrate environmental leadership to the wider community. We now have 64 marinas across Australia and internationally committed to environmental best practice. The challenge for industry remains to continually increase the number of marinas committed to achieving Clean Marinas status.β
Both marinas will be formally presented with the certifications in early 2016.