The Port of Vancouver has reported a record breaking year for shipments of grain, potash and containers despite the global pandemic. The 2020 figures show 35.1 million tonnes of grain handled, a 24 per cent increase from 2019. Overall, cargo was steady at 145.4 million tonnes. Potash exports increased by 11 per cent from a 2019 record. Shipping container quantities, measured by 20-foot equivalents or TEUs, were a record 3.5 million TEUs.  The Vancouver Fraser Port Authority's 2020 year-end statistics also noted a decline in volumes compared to 2019 in auto imports by 18%, breakbulk forest products and coal exports by 14% and 15% respectively.

In accordance with Section 14(1)(d of the Canada Marine Act (CMA) and the Letters Patent of the Port Alberni Port Authority, a Nominating Committee to recruit and recommend candidates to the Board of Directors has been formed. The Port Alberni Port Authority has two vacancies for the user group category for which nominations are being accepted.  Section 16 of the CMA provides details of those individuals who may not be directors of a Port Authority. In particular, section 16(e) of CMA precludes an individual who is a director, officer or employee of a person who is a user of the port. The deadline for nominations is April 5, 2021.

Clear Seas contracted Nuka Research and Planning Group, LLC, to conduct a study to provide a clear, comprehensive picture of the commercial vessels operating in Canada’s Pacific region, their typical routes and behaviours, and the quantity and type of oil they carry. The study focuses on traffic patterns pre and post implementation of the North American Emissions Control Area between 2014 and 2016.

The Halifax Port Authority plans to construct an 11-bay, 2,700-square-metre building to be used by Canada Border Services Agency for examining shipping containers at their Fairview Cove terminal. The new infrastructure will be constructed on land that has been created by infilling the Bedford Basin over the past several years. In total, nearly four hectares of the infilled land will be paved to accommodate the project. The project will include a large building as well as new roads, an asphalt compound and a truck gate. The latest stage of a project has been determined to have no significant adverse environmental impact.

Transport Canada has issued Ship Safety Bulletin 03/2021: Updated Guidance to Vessel Crew Members and Non-Crew Marine Sector Workers Respecting Entry into Canada to provide the latest details on expectations under the Government of Canada's interim orders with respect to COVID-19 tests and quarantine requirements.

The Ship Safety Bulletin confirms that asymptomatic crew members arriving into Canada by air or land are exempt from the COVID-19 molecular tests and quarantine requirements upon entry.

The requirements for non-crew marine sector workers providing an essential service in the trade or transportation sector important for the movement of goods or people, may or may not be exempt from the entry requirements.  Furthermore, the SSB states, "In order to be exempt from the requirement to quarantine for 14 days prior to commencing work in Canada, non-crew marine sector workers must provide to the Canada Border Services Agency officer a reasonable rationale why their services in the marine sector are required right away and why they are unable to plan for quarantine prior to commencing work. The final decision whether the exemption applies under the circumstances belongs to the Canada Border Services Agency officer and/or a Public Health Agency of Canada quarantine officer."

The Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard, the Honourable Bernadette Jordan, has officially launched the Ocean Decade in Canada at a virtual event. At the event, Minister Jordan reaffirmed the Government of Canada’s commitment to ocean health and science to support a sustainable and prosperous blue economy. The Minister also released Canada’s Oceans Now, 2020, which provides information on the current state of Canada’s oceans and highlights some of the key challenges facing our oceans. The Ocean Decade initiative will help inform the Government of Canada’s Blue Economy Strategy and draw attention to the importance of ocean science.

Members of Congress are getting involved in a dispute between US agriculture exporters and container carriers over an alleged denial of service during the second half of last year, when a sudden and sustained surge in volumes sent spot trans-Pacific freight rates through the roof.  US exporters, particularly those moving agricultural products, claim carriers have been systematically refusing bookings since last fall in an attempt to speed the return of empty containers to Asia, where they can be filled with higher-paying import cargo.  The inability to access containers, along with widespread port congestion, vessel delays, equipment shortages, and other logistical breakdowns caused by near-record US import volumes, is resulting in significantly higher costs for exporters and even lost business overseas.

The top-ranking members of the US House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure have issued a letter asking Canada to find a way to allow cruise ships to call at Canadian ports, suggesting they consider permitting stops without disembarking passengers, to enable an Alaska cruise season this year. The letter indicates that Canada's decision to ban cruising through 2022 will effectively kill the Alaska cruise season and pile onto the economic devastation that is already being experienced.

Seaspan Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Atlas Corp. announced this week that it has entered into an agreement with a major shipyard for the construction of eight high-quality newbuild scrubber-fitted containerships. The transaction includes firm orders for four 12,000 TEU and four 15,000 TEU vessels plus an option for four additional 15,000 TEU vessels of similar build. The vessels will feature industry-leading efficiency and emissions reduction technologies and, upon completion, will enter long-term charters with a long-standing major liner customer. Deliveries of the vessels are anticipated to begin in the second half of 2022 and extend through the third quarter of 2023.

Ocean carriers Grimaldi and United European Car Carriers (UECC) are investing in their roll-on/roll-off (ro/ro) fleets, while Wallenius Wilhelmsen (WW) is bringing more of its own ships out of layup to avoid renewing charters at rising rates, amid improving medium-term demand projections. Grimaldi has now added another six ro/ro multipurpose vessels to its orderbook at a total cost of more than $500 million. The organization has signed shipbuilding contracts for 45,684-deadweight ton (dwt) vessels, capable of transporting 4,700 linear meters of rolling freight along with 2,500 car equivalent units (CEU) and 2,000 TEU, with South Korea’s Hyundai Mipo Dockyard. The new ships, set to be delivered between 2023 and 2024, will reduce carbon dioxide emissions by up to 43 percent per ton transported, as compared with the 25-year-old vessels they will be replacing.

The Southern Ace, a new wood-chip carrier for the Hokuetsu Corporation was delivered earlier this week at Oshima Shipbuilding Co., Ltd. in Saikai city, Nagasaki, Japan. The ship will transport wood chips made from logs that have been confirmed to have been legally obtained through sustainable plantations in the Southern Hemisphere. The vessel is an eco-ship that uses approximately 15 percent less fuel compared to conventional wood-chip carriers. These advancements have been made through improvements to the hull form while maintaining transportation capacity and the use of a larger propeller that improves propulsion. The carrier is also equipped with ladder fins that improve water flow generated at the aft-end of the vessel.

Length overall: 209.96 meters
Breadth: 37.00 meters
Deadweight tonnage: 60,222 metric tons
Cargo tank capacity: approx. 4,300,000 cubic feet
Builder: Oshima Shipbuilding Co., Ltd.
Port of registry: Shingu, Japan