With over 187 years of experience, Wilson Sons has earned the 2025 Sustainability Seal in the Diamond category after a technical assessment conducted by Brazil’s Ministry of Ports and Airports (MPor). The awards ceremony was held Wednesday, November 12, in Belém, Pará. The award was received by Roberta Carvalhal, Legal and Institutional Relations Director at Wilson Sons; João David Santos, Sustainability Manager; Camila Felipe, Sustainable Development Manager; and Guilherme Silva, Safety, Environment, and Climate Change Manager.
The Sustainability Seal is a recognition and an incentive for companies with good environmental, social, and governance (ESG) practices that have adhered to the Sustainability Pact established by Ordinance no. 58/2025. The pact aims to help to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to implement social and environmental programs aligned with the global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the 2030 Agenda.
According to MPor, the 63 companies participating in the program presented action plans based on environment, social development, and governance. Based on their assessed performance, the organizations received Bronze, Silver, Gold, or Diamond seals. In this first edition, 36 organizations were awarded prizes across different categories.
Wilson Sons has been incorporating new technologies and sustainable practices to deliver safer, more efficient, and more sustainable operations, and to enhance social programs. Additionally, it has conducted multiple studies to implement innovations to cut down on fuel and electricity consumption.
Breakthrough technologies and new equipment used in Wilson Sons' business units, such as the Towage division and the container terminals in Salvador (Bahia) and Rio Grande (Rio Grande do Sul), which are capable of operating the largest ships in the world, make operations safer, more efficient, and with lower emissions, thereby supporting the decarbonization of port and maritime logistics in Brazil.
Between 2022 and 2024, Wilson Sons built six tugboats with more sustainable technology at its shipyard in Guarujá (São Paulo), in the Santos port complex, renewing its fleet of more than 80 tugs that operate along the Brazilian coastline. Their hull design leads to reduced greenhouse gas emissions and an estimated decrease of 14% in the consumption of fossil fuels, supporting the improvement of air quality in the ports where they operate. In 2025, Wilson Sons started building a new range of three super powerful tugboats with sustainable technology at its shipyard.
Other decarbonization actions include the use of shore power in tugboats (prioritizing renewable energy); tracking the tugboat fleet at the Operations Centre in Santos, which optimizes travel speeds; and, at the container terminals, the acquisition of 100% renewable electricity (Rio Grande Container Terminal) and the replacement of diesel-powered with electric equipment (Rio Grande and Salvador Container Terminals).
The event had the institutional support of the National Confederation of Transport (CNT) and Infra S.A. The awards ceremony, held during the 30th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP30), was attended by the National Secretary of Waterways and Shipping Otto Burlier, the MPor Director of Sustainability Larissa Amorim, and Infra S.A. Superintendent of Environmental and Territorial Management Bruno Marques.
