New Operators & Developers category expands annual award recognizing ESG leadership across the offshore energy industry
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Date: Wednesday, October 21, 2026
Media Contact: media@nullnoia.org
Washington, DC — The National Ocean Industries Association (NOIA) has named the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) and Ørsted the winners of the 2026 NOIA Environmental, Social, & Governance (ESG) Excellence Awards.
ABS is the winner of the Service, Supply & Support category, while Ørsted is the inaugural winner of the new Operators & Developers category.
The NOIA ESG Excellence Award recognizes companies whose actions, design, or influence advance the ideals embodied by the NOIA ESG Principles. For the first time in 2026, NOIA expanded the competition to two categories, allowing companies throughout the offshore energy value chain to be evaluated alongside their industry peers.
NOIA President Erik Milito congratulated ABS and Ørsted, saying:
The best measure of ESG leadership is what a company actually does, and ABS and Ørsted gave our judges a lot to look at. Their entries showed measurable results in safety, technology, workforce development, environmental performance and the communities where they operate. That work is happening every day across the offshore energy industry.”
Expanding the awards this year allows us to recognize that work across more of NOIA’s membership. ABS has a long record of turning technical expertise into safer, more efficient offshore operations, while Ørsted has built these principles into how it develops and operates offshore wind energy projects. Both companies earned this recognition through real results.”
We also want to thank every company that submitted an entry. The quality of the submissions made the judges’ job difficult, which is exactly what you want from an award like this. There is tremendous work happening across NOIA’s membership, and we appreciate the companies that took the time to share it with us.
Ørsted | Operators & Developers Award
As the inaugural winner of the Operators & Developers Award, Ørsted was recognized for integrating worker safety, environmental stewardship, and community engagement across its U.S. offshore wind projects. Its submission highlighted investments in workforce training and apprenticeships, partnerships that support local communities and regional economies, environmental monitoring and biodiversity initiatives, and a strong culture of safety throughout its offshore operations.
Mikkel Maehlisen, Ørsted's Vice President for Americas Generation said:
We’re honored to receive NOIA’s inaugural Operators & Developers ESG Excellence Award. At Ørsted, worker safety, community engagement, and environmental stewardship are fundamental to how we build and operate our offshore wind energy projects. This award reflects the dedication of our employees, contractors, and partners to these principles, and we thank NOIA for recognizing the importance of these efforts across the offshore energy industry.
ABS | Service, Supply & Support Award
As the winner of the Service, Supply & Support Award, ABS was recognized for institutionalizing ESG across its operations and technical services, with systems and capabilities designed to deliver measurable performance systematically and consistently. Its submission highlighted 126 joint development projects executed or underway in 2025, as well as more than 15 million work hours without a lost-time incident and 200,000 hours of employee training. ABS also demonstrated how digital tools can improve safety and environmental performance, with expanded remote service delivery avoiding an estimated 714 tons of carbon emissions and more than 60,000 hours of travel in 2025
Matt Tremblay, ABS Senior Vice President, Global Markets said:
We are honored to receive this recognition from NOIA. Our work with clients on technology, safety and training supports the ESG goals of the marine and offshore sectors. We will keep working with our clients, applying our experience and technical authority to help the industry be safer and more efficient.
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Explore the Winning ESG Initiatives
For a closer look at the initiatives behind this year’s awards, including ABS’s measurable achievements in safety, technology and workforce development and Ørsted’s work in offshore safety, environmental stewardship and community engagement, read NOIA’s feature: 2026 NOIA ESG Excellence Awards: Recognizing ABS and Ørsted.
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Award Recognition and Next Steps
ABS and Ørsted were formally recognized at the 2026 NOIA Fall Meeting, October 21–23, at the Grand Hotel in Point Clear, Alabama. Both companies will also be invited to present their award-winning ESG work during the 2027 NOIA Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C., providing an opportunity to share their approaches and lessons learned with the broader NOIA membership.
The winning entries were selected by an independent panel of ESG and energy experts from Opportune, Cornerstone Government Affairs and FTI Consulting. Each category was judged separately based on support for the NOIA Foundational ESG Principles, institutionalization, achievement, documentation and industry adaptability.
About Ørsted
A global clean energy leader, Ørsted develops, constructs, and operates offshore wind facilities and, in the U.S., land-based wind, solar, and energy storage facilities. Ørsted’s U.S. portfolio includes South Fork Wind, America’s first utility-scale offshore wind farm, as well as Revolution Wind and Sunrise Wind, two major offshore wind projects under construction in the Northeast. To learn more about Ørsted in the U.S, visit us.orsted.com or follow the company on X (@OrstedUS), Instagram, and Facebook.
About the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS)
ABS, a global leader in classification services, is focused on delivering a safer, cleaner future for the marine and offshore industries. For over 160 years, ABS has been setting standards for safety and excellence and continues to innovate in the fields of clean technology, digitalization and artificial intelligence, providing industry-leading technical advisory services. With a global network of surveyors, engineers, technology specialists and support staff, ABS works with industry leaders including its members and clients around the world to improve safety in operational performance and efficiency with innovative solutions for the complete life cycle of marine and offshore assets.
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About NOIA
The National Ocean Industries Association (NOIA) represents and advances a dynamic and growing offshore energy industry, providing solutions that support communities and protect our workers, the public, and our environment.
