Transport Minister, John Baird, announced the appointment of Stuart Douglas Boland (Bud) Smith as Interim Chairperson of the Ridley Terminals Inc. (RTI) Board of Directors following the dismissal of Daniel Vaniez announced on June 27th. 

Bud Smith, QC, is a lawyer and former Cabinet Minister for the Government of British Columbia. He served as a Member of the Legislative Assembly for Kamloops from 1986 to 1991. He has extensive experience serving on the boards of Crown corporations, having been a director of the British Columbia Development Corporation (BCDC), Canada Post Corporation, and Prince Rupert Port Authority.

Over the past month, the Port Metro Vancouver has facilitated several meetings with the Terminals to discuss the truck appointment system. In an effort to standardize the system Port wide, several initiatives are underway. The first of these will be implemented at Centerm, Vanterm, Fraser Surrey Docks and Deltaport effective Monday, April 6th, 2009.

Appointment windows will now be 2 hours. (ie: 30 minutes prior, the appointment hour and 30 minutes after the appointment hour.)

• As an example: 9:00am appointment can be transacted from 08:30 am to 10:30am.

Appointments must be cancelled more than 2 hours prior to the appointment hour.

• As an example: 9:00am appointment must be cancelled by 7:00am before.

The Pacific Pilotage Authority has issued the following Notice with respect to Squamish Terminal Berthing/Unberthing Requirements for Howe Sound, Squamish Terminal

 This Notice supersedes the Notice to Shipping #03/2006. 

 Guideline:  

 (1)   For Berth #1 a minimum of 5% of vessel deadweight in tug horsepower split evenly between two tugs and taking thrusters into account.

 (2)   For Berth #2 a minimum of 7½% of vessel deadweight in tug horsepower split evenly between two tugs and taking thrusters into account.

 (3)   The tug Squamish Rogue will not be taken into consideration as part of the 7½% until it has undergone a bollard pull test.

 

Regular callers have discussed and agreed to tug packages for their individual vessels with the pilots.  

News Release
By Richardson International Limited

Richardson International Limited (“Richardson”) announced today the successful loading of more than 65,500 metric tonnes of Canola on board a single vessel from its Vancouver terminal.  In doing so, Richardson set a record for volume of canola loaded aboard a vessel in the Port of Vancouver.  The Medi Sentosa, a vessel bound for United Arab Emirates was loaded in a seven-day period, from January 8th to January 15th.  The previous record, 65,250 metric tonnes, was also set by Richardson in 2008.

The magnitude of the feat is made even more impressive by the speed with which the Medi Sentosa was loaded from a single berth, notwithstanding adverse weather conditions.  Darwin Sobkow, Richardson Vice-President Agribusiness Operations, commended the effort of Richardson’s personnel.  “This type of result depends on great team effort.  I am extremely proud of our Vancouver terminal staff and management who worked very hard to load the Medi Sentosa.  I am also very pleased with the ability of our primary elevator staff and our logistics department who were able to move the canola from all parts of Western Canada to Vancouver, despite glacial weather throughout the Prairies.  This exemplifies the quality of our staff, the potential of our facility and the efficiency of our operations.”

Richardson’s President, Curt Vossen, believes the company’s recent growth, through the addition and expansion of several grain handling facilities, was an important factor in the Vancouver terminal’s record-setting execution.  “The expansion of our grain handling network by more than 50% since 2007 provides us with a greater ability to source grain from all areas of Western Canada and to position it at our terminals in time to suit our customers’ needs.  Reliable shipping also allows us to develop new marketplaces for Canadian commodities, including United Arab Emirates.”  Vossen adds that efficient execution of grain transportation logistics benefits all stakeholders:  producers who can sell and deliver greater quantities of grain in a timely fashion; grain companies who can execute a greater number of sales; end-use customers who can rely on a trustworthy supply of Canadian agricultural commodities; and the Port of Vancouver which benefits from reduced congestion within its waters.”

The Medi Sentosa is expected to arrive in Jebel Ali, United Arab Emirates by mid-February, 2009.