El Cabildo de Tenerife (the Island Council of Tenerife), through Turismo de Tenerife, has awarded Fred. Olsen Express the “Sustainable Tourism Practices 2022” prize for its “Fred. Olsen Vigía” platform for detecting cetaceans and floating objects in general. Each year, these awards recognise good practices in sustainability promoted by companies, local administrations and other public and private entities on the island.
The shipping company has earned this recognition for developing the Fred. Olsen Vigía platform, a pioneering system in the sector designed to help care for and preserve life in our oceans.
The platform allows accurate data to be collected on marine animals and large objects floating on the high seas and shared with the rest of the fleet in real time. This creates a heat map that all officers can access to decide whether to change course to avoid areas frequented by animals, ensuring safe navigation for marine wildlife, the fleet and passengers alike. Fred. Olsen Vigía also has a scientific aspect, as the information obtained is shared with the biology faculty at the University of La Laguna.
The “Sustainable Tourism Practices 2022” awards were presented today at the Casa del Vino in El Sauzal, at a ceremony held as part of the “REGENERATe week” training and activities programme organised by Turismo de Tenerife, as part of its strategy to promote tourism and sustainability in the destination. The Director of Tourism for Cabildo de Tenerife, Laura Castro, and the CEO of Turismo de Tenerife, David Pérez, presented the award to the Fleet Director of Fred. Olsen Express, Juan Ignacio Liaño.
For his part, the shipping company's fleet director, Juan Ignacio Liaño, expressed the company's gratitude for this recognition and stressed that ‘at Fred. Olsen Express we would like to congratulate the other projects and companies that have won awards in this edition, as we are very aware that the development of a sustainable tourism model is only possible with the collaboration and shared effort of private sector agents and public initiative’.
‘For all of us who are part of the Fred. Olsen Express family, this award provides extra motivation and encouragement to continue advancing in our commitment to caring for the environment, with new technologies as our allies,’ added Juan Ignacio Liaño.
Fred. Olsen Vigía thoroughly
The creation of the Fred. Olsen Vigía software, developed in collaboration with technology partner Varadero Software Factory in 2019, is an important milestone in the company's history. This pioneering and unique system in the field of maritime transport aims to contribute to the care and protection of marine life in the Canary Islands through detection and identification. The platform for quickly recording sightings during navigation works in three simple steps: identification, recording of time and place, and, in the case of animals, direction of navigation. Due to its design, it does not require installation, is very intuitive, and allows users to access and consult it easily.