The Mission to Seafarers Needs Your Support!

We are now one week away from the Mission to Seafarers’ annual and most important fund raiser of the year – the 12th Annual Cycling for Seafarers. The Mission is solely focussed on the welfare of seafarers who play such a vital role in ensuring that Canada’s domestic and international trade is delivered safely and efficiently. Please reflect on the importance of this initiative and consider making a contribution. The details of the ride can be found here and you are welcome to call or email Robert Lewis-Manning, Chairperson – Mission to Seafarers for further details.

BC Ferries releases feedback on engagement for new major vessels

BC Ferries has released the feedback it received during the new major vessel engagement the company ran earlier this year for the next generation of ferries. The first phase of engagement focused on nine topic areas, including: accessibility, pedestrians and cyclists, pet spaces, outdoor spaces, food and beverage, family spaces, new amenities, technology, and additional thoughts and key considerations like sustainability and future flexibility to meet changing needs. With more than 11,000 respondents, feedback included requests for more space and amenities for pet owners, more diversity in fresh food choices, improved areas for bicycle storage, quiet areas away from technology and noise, and environmental impact, among other topics.

Jim Pattison offers to take Canfor private for $981 million

Jim Pattison and his company, Great Pacific Capital Corp., have proposed taking lumber producer Canfor Corp. private for about $981.6 million. The company already owns 51 percent of Canfor and is proposing that it buys out the remaining shares for $16 apiece, an 82 per cent premium to the stock’s closing price last Friday. Canfor has formed a special committee of independent directors to review the offer. Canfor shares soared 72 per cent to $15.12 Monday. The deal, which values the Canfor at about $2 billion, would require the holders of two-thirds of the stock to approve a special resolution.

Canada Infrastructure Bank signs memorandum of understanding with Port of Montreal on Contrecoeur port expansion project

The Canada Infrastructure Bank has announced that it will work with the Montreal Port Authority to advance the project development of a new container terminal in Contrecoeur, where the port plans to expand its activities. The new terminal will serve to enable importers and exporters to get products to market as quickly as possible, by increasing the port’s capacity.

Transport Canada fines two coast guard ships for speeding in right whale protection zone

Transport Canada is issuing fines to a pair of Canadian Coast Guard ships, the CCGS Cape Edensaw and CCGS Cap d'Espoir that allegedly sailed too fast through the Gulf of St. Lawrence, where speed restrictions which were in place earlier this month to protect the endangered North Atlantic right whales. The fines are 6,000 and $12,000, respectively. Since the restrictions have gone into place, a total of six vessels, including a luxury yacht and three cargo vessels, have incurred penalties.

Rail related infrastructure gets over $100 million investment

Transport Canada has announced over $100 million in rail-related infrastructure funding in recent weeks. The projects receiving funding are part of a multi-year, billion-dollar program by the Canadian government to invest in key trade corridors. Projects include:

• $18.5 million to improve truck flows at the Port of Montreal, with one of the initiatives being to build a railway bridge outside the truck entrance to improve truck traffic at the port.
• $12.4 million provided to two projects in Saskatchewan to enhance rail capacity, reduce bottlenecks and increase competition for shippers by offering them increased access to two railways instead of just one.
• $20 million to increase rail capacity near Abbotsford for track leading to the Port of Vancouver. The project entails the construction of a 5.6-kilometer track that will run alongside an existing single track.
• $102 million in five projects to improve efficiencies at the Port of Vancouver, including: C$42.7 million to consolidate the operations at the Annacis Auto Terminal and the Richmond Terminal to accommodate the growing Asian automobile market; C$12.2 million to improve road and rail traffic operations and develop new rail-serviced bulk export marine terminals within the Fraser Surrey Port Lands; C$39.4 million to improve traffic flow and reduce congestion in the Portside/Blundell corridor of Richmond; C$1.6 million to evaluate the viability of short sea shipping in greater Vancouver as a means of handling increased trade volumes; and C$6 million to develop a real-time dashboard for the Ports of Vancouver and Prince Rupert to measure the end-to-end performance of the supply chain for all cargo moving through both ports. 

Better rules for impact assessments coming into effect this month

The Government of Canada will be bringing the new Impact Assessment Act, the Canadian Energy Regulator Act, the Canadian Navigable Waters Act, and associated regulations into force on August 28, 2019. The outlines rules for transitioning to the new system seek to protect our environment and communities while making sure good projects can get built to create jobs for the middle class.

Ship-to-shore cranes and shipping containers removed from US tariff list

Ship-to-shore cranes and shipping containers have been removed for the US tariff list, which includes $300 billion in goods subject to tariffs. Had the 10 percent tariff on ship-to-shore cranes remained in place, port authorities would have spent about $1.5 million more on cranes. New shipping containers would have cost about $1,000 to $1,500 to domestic intermodal providers. 

NY-NJ makes first delivery with electric drayage truck and

The Port of New York and New Jersey has completed their first delivery by a zero-emission electric truck. Best Transportation delivered a 14,000-pound container from its Port Newark warehouse to Costco Wholesale in Monroe, New Jersey, about 36 miles away. The vehicle is the only commercially available zero-emission drayage truck and is powered by a battery pack that enables the truck to travel 125 miles per charge, with a cab that can carry a combined weight of 105,000 pounds. The delivery is the latest step in the port’s effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, which includes replacing aging trucks newer, cleaner-burning vehicles.

Australia On Track to Become World’s Largest LNG Exporter

Australia is on track to surpass Qatar as the world’s largest LNG exporter. It already surpasses Qatar in LNG export capacity and exported more LNG than Qatar in November 2018 and April 2019. Within the next year, as more of Australia’s projects ramp up and increase operations, U.S. Energy Information Administration expects Australia to consistently export more LNG than Qatar. The country’s LNG export capacity increased from 2.6 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) in 2011 to more than 11.4 Bcf/d in 2019. The LNG exports are forecast to grow to 10.8 Bcf/d by 2020–21 once recently commissioned projects start operating at full production.

Evergreen to charge $35,000 per container misdeclared hazardous cargo

Evergreen has told clients that any omission, concealment or misdeclaration of hazardous cargoes that it finds will result in fines of $35,000 per container. This decision comes in a wake of several other carriers issuing warnings of fines for misdeclared cargoes, including OOCL and Maersk, though they have not specified the amount of the fine. Hapag-Lloyd and HMM have said clients with misdeclared cargo will face a fine of $15,000 per box charge.

25% of all serious incidents onboard containerships are attributaed to misdeclared cargos that lead to significant fire on boxships every 60 days. Most recently, a fire swept through the countainers on the APL Le Havre, which took four hours to bring under control.