While Port Milwaukee's mission emphasizes its commercial and recreational maritime activity, it is paramount that the Port continues to support its domestic and international customers while simultaneously promoting and prioritizing freshwater stewardship. As such, Port Milwaukee announced its StewardSHIP initiative in December 2021 to encourage ship owners to utilize sustainable policies and environmental stewardship in their operations.
For those vessels that have implemented emission reduction measures and other environmental improvements, the Port Milwaukee StewardSHIP initiative offers domestic and foreign flag vessels a 10% dockage discount for each Port transit within a single shipping season. This will benefit Milwaukee’s harbor by reducing greenhouse gas emissions, deploying clean energy solutions, and supporting climate adaptation activities at the Port.
In order to qualify for the program, vessel agents and/or vessel owners must complete the application prior to the vessel's arrival at Port Milwaukee. The application will be reviewed for qualification by representatives of the Port Operations and Trade Development teams as well as the Port Director for approval at their discretion.
If approved, the application will be valid until the expiration of the currently active Port Tariff, typically March 31 of each year. Once the new Port Tariff becomes effective, typically April 1 of each year, a new application will need to be resubmitted for approval to verify that vessel environmental improvements continue to meet program qualifications.
Click here to complete the StewardSHIP application. Completed applications and required, supplemental documentation may be emailed to [email protected].
There are 4 measuring categories – at least 3 of which must be satisfied in order to qualify under the StewardSHIP program:
The applicant vessels must meet at least one (1) criteria in three (3) of the above categories. There are various criteria listed within the application for each category in order to provide maximum flexibility to vessel owners for qualification.
Port Milwaukee is encouraging participation in the StewardSHIP program and has committed to making the initiative inclusive to various means of environmental measurement. If there are questions about how to complete the application or whether certain criteria apply, please contact the Port via email at [email protected].
The Port looks forward to working together with the maritime industry in the shared effort to be responsible stewards of our Great Lakes.