Following a seven-month truce reached between the Maritime Employers Association and the FTQ-affiliated Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) local last August. On Sunday, the 1,125 longshoremen will be called to vote to end the truce. The two parties have not yet reached an agreement, even after months of discussions, with the help of three mediators and intensive mediation sessions. Instead, the longshoremen will decide on a final and comprehensive offer. It is unknown whether the union will recommend that its members accept the final offer or whether it will remain neutral on the offer, leaving it to its members to decide after the details of the offer are presented. It was agreed that at the end of the truce, the parties would regain their right to lock out and strike.

Chevron Corp. is halting funding for the Kitimat LNG joint venture in northern British Columbia after no buyers surfaced for the much-delayed project that revamped its designs in a bid to meet British Columbia’s climate goals. New designs for the export terminal, unveiled in mid-2019, promote electric-motor technology in an effort to comply with British Columbia’s clampdown on carbon emissions. Various owners have poured hundreds of millions of dollars into site preparation at Bish Cove, but the project been effectively stalled for several years. Kitimat LNG’s proposed Pacific Trail Pipeline sought to transport natural gas from the Summit Lake area in the B.C. Interior to the terminal at Bish Cove.

Ballard Power Systems and Canadian Pacific announced today that CP will employ Ballard fuel cell modules for CP’s pioneering Hydrogen Locomotive Program. The modules will provide a total of 1.2 megawatts of electricity to power the locomotive.  By retrofitting a formerly diesel-powered locomotive with Ballard hydrogen fuel cells the fuel cells will work with battery technology to power the locomotive’s electric traction motors. Once operational, CP will conduct rail service trials and qualification testing to evaluate the technology’s readiness for the freight-rail sector. This will be North America’s first hydrogen-powered line-haul freight locomotive. Ballard plans to deliver six of its 200-kilowatt fuel cell modules to CP in 2021.

Seaspan Shipyards and the University of British Columbia (UBC) have announced the establishment of a new faculty chair position at UBC. The chair, the third to be funded by Seaspan at UBC, both supports the priorities of the university and addresses the needs of the marine sector for technological innovation and highly qualified personnel. The chair will perform research and teach in emerging areas such as hybrid electrical propulsion, shipboard communication, cyber security, digital controls, underwater radiated noise and situational awareness. Seaspan will be investing $1M over five years.

There is an exciting shift taking place in North America’s marine shipping industry, where an increasing number of women are emerging as executives, ship captains, engineers and other leaders. The impact is being recognized across the country, so much so, that the National Post recently released an article focusing on some of the women who are making a splash in the industry.

Commissioner Louis E. Sola of the Federal Maritime Commission released “Economic Impact of COVID-19 on the Cruise Industry on California, Hawaii, and the Pacific,” the latest in a series of interim reports being issued as part of the ongoing Fact Finding 30 investigation. The report examines direct and indirect economic impacts to ports and cities in California, Hawaii, American Samoa, Guam, and Saipan.  The report notes that the passenger cruise industry is an important part of the tourism sectors for both California and Hawaii.  Furthermore, while cruise calls to American territories in the Pacific are infrequent, the services that stop at those islands create tourism revenues without the need for investment in physical infrastructure necessary to attract tourists.  This is the fourth in a series of Interim Reports issued by Commissioner Sola examining economic impacts to cities and states as a result of the cessation of cruise ship operations.  Previous reports have focused on Florida, Alaska/Pacific Northwest, and Texas/Gulf of Mexico.  Further reports are planned.

The US Coast Guard has issued Marine Safety Information Bulletin 04-21 to summarize available resources for those experiencing issues with crew changes during the COVID-19 pandemic. On January 25, 2021, the U.S. joined 53 other International Maritime Organization (IMO) member states in Circular Letter No.4204/Add.35/Rev.3 in pledging to facilitate crew changes and achieve key worker designation for seafarers

The IMO issued a news release calling for  expressions of interest from countries with a medium-sized port willing to take part in a pilot project to establish an efficient digitalized system for electronic exchange of information in ports for ship clearance. The "Single Window for Facilitation of Trade (SWiFT) Project" will develop a Maritime Single Window system in partnership with Singapore and the pilot port.  We vote that Canada sign on to the SWiFT project as there is an obligation and strong need to make ship clearance more streamlined and efficient.

The uptake of zero emission pilots and demonstration projects is a fundamental component of the maritime industry’s transition to zero emission fuels. The Getting to Zero Coalition’s biannual Mapping of Zero Emission Pilots and Demonstration Projects outlines the spread and scope of existing zero emission projects, encompassing the full value chain of technologies needed to facilitate shipping’s transition to zero emission fuels. The second edition sees a significant increase in the number of identified projects – up from 66 to 106 – focusing on ship technologies, fuel production as well as bunkering and recharging facilities.

Therma Marine Inc. (TMI), a subsidiary of Aboitiz Power Corporation, one of the Philippines’ leading power companies, has ordered a barge-mounted 54 MW / 32 MWh energy storage system to be delivered by Wärtsilä on an engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) basis. The Wärtsilä barge will be placed next to TMI’s existing thermal power barge of a total of 100 MW in the municipality of Maco in the province of Davao de Oro. The order was placed in September 2020. The project will be handled on a fast-track basis, with expected delivery in Q4 2021. This will be the first ever deployment of a floating energy storage solution in the South East Asia region. The solution will provide flexibility for TMI in their ancillary service contract with the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines.

Day of the Seafarer 2021 campaign is calling for a fair future for seafarers. The campaign will discuss issues that will still be relevant to seafarers after the pandemic, such as fair treatment of seafarers, fair working conditions, fair training, fair safety, etc.  The annual Day of the Seafarer, June 25th, will provide a platform to advocate for higher standards of working conditions. Seafarers will be invited to share their views  about their future in seafaring.

To transport liquefied natural gas from Yamal LNG, which is located in the Arctic and constitutes one of the world’s biggest LNG projects, 15 ice-class LNG carrier were commissioned between December 2016 and December 2019. This innovative solution allows large shipments of LNG to be transported efficiently and at a steady pace throughout the year, without the assistance of icebreakers. The ship, which is 300 meters long and has a capacity of 172,600 cubic meters, can sail in temperatures as low as -52° C and through ice as thick as 2.1 meters.

The SCF Group’s Christophe de Margerie is the world’s first icebreaking LNG carrier and the lead ship in the series of ice class Arc7 vessels, purpose designed for serving the Yamal LNG project in the Russian Arctic all year round

Built Date:  November 2016
Delivery Date:  27 March 2017
Flag:    Cyprus
Class:  Russian Maritime Register/Bureau Veritas
LOA (m):  299.00
Breadth (m):  50.00
Depth (m):  26.50
Deadweight (t):  96778.90
GRT:   128806
NRT:   38641
Draught (Loaded) (m):  11.80
Speed (knots):  19.50

Ship of the week courtesy of Capt. Stan Bowles, BowTech Marine