Seaspan is looking to build additional ship maintenance and repair capacity on the North Vancouver waterfront, immediately west of their dry dock operations. An application has been submitted to the Port of Vancouver to install a floating work pontoon and two additional dry docks on the west side of the existing deep-water outfitting pier. The new large additional drydock would be about 100 metres in length, 30 metres in width, and 10 metres in depth, while the smaller drydock would be about 55 metres in length, 22 metres in width, and eight metres in depth. This will consolidate and significantly expand Seaspan’s ship repair business operations, which currently frequently turns away potential contracts due to limited facilities.

The Nisga'a Nation is partnering with a group of Western Canadian natural gas producers called Rockies LNG Partners and a Texas-based energy company called Western LNG to develop a new liquified natural gas (LNG) export facility.  The project, called Ksi Lisims LNG, would include a pipeline to transport natural gas from the northeast corner of the province to a floating liquefaction facility would be located near the village of Gingolx, a coastal community about 80 kilometres north of Prince Rupert. The project will be capable of producing 12 million tonnes of LNG per year and generate 4,000 construction jobs. Ownership of Ksi Lisims LNG is still being determined as the proponents continue to finalize commercial agreements and negotiations are underway with two companies to build a pipeline.  The project proponents are scheduled to announce the project on Monday, and will begin applying for the necessary government permits and start formal talks with communities in the region.

The City of Nanaimo has reappointed Dr. Michelle Corfield as the municipal representative on the Board of the Port of Nanaimo for a three year term. To date, Past Chair Michelle Corfield has served six years on the Port of Nanaimo Board of Directors holding various positions and is currently the Chair of the Human Resources and Compensation Committee. During this time Michelle has demonstrated her community leadership skills acting as an integral part of the team responsible for bringing Federal funding to the community including $6.3 million to develop the Vehicle Processing Centre at the Nanaimo Assembly Wharves and $46.2 million for the Duke Point Terminal expansion from the National Trade Corridors Fund. She also participated in the renewal of the Port’s protocol agreements with the Snuneymuxw First Nation, the City of Nanaimo and the Regional District of Nanaimo.

After being delayed for nearly a year, TransLink’s new SeaBus took its maiden voyage across the Burrard Inlet in the Port of Vancouver on Thursday.  The Burrard Chinook is the first SeaBus to also serve as an art installation. The vessel is decked in art from the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh First Nations and pays tribute to the Chinook salmon, one of the most iconic species in Pacific waters and with local First Nations.

The Honourable Bernadette Jordan, Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard, has announced a $976.8M investment through Budget 2021 to continue Canada's marine conservation efforts to attain the goal of protecting 25 per cent of Canada’s oceans by 2025, and working toward 30 per cent by 2030. Canada exceeded its 20 per cent target for 2020 as now approximately 739,906 square kilometres (14 percent) of marine and coastal areas are protected.  With the announced was the release of a report entitled, "The Current - Managing Oceans Act MPAs Now for the Future" that will help inform future decisions and reporting on marine protection through the successes, challenges and lessons learned from Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) established to date.

Transport Canada is hosting live engagement sessions to discuss the feasibility of adjusting the Traffic Separation Scheme (TSS) in an effort to mitigate impact to the Southern Resident killer whales in the Strait of Juan de Fuca, Swiftsure Bank, Haro Strait and Boundary Pass, and the Salish Sea near the mouth of the Fraser River. The team has refined the list of potential sites for detailed evaluation to 5 sites and is engaging on these 5 options. The Storymap has been updated to guide readers through the 5 options on the TSS where the team will be conducting a detailed evaluation. The next live session will take place on July 28, 2021 between 0900-1200 PDT.

The Canada Border Services Agency has released a new Traveller Contact Information Form for all persons entering into Canada.  The new form includes questions on whether individuals are vaccinated.  The ArriveCan app has been updated with the same questions.

Six communities within Inuit Nunangat will received a total of $1.5M in funding under the Indigenous Community Boat Volunteer Pilot Program.  With the new equipment and training from the Canadian Coast Guard Auxiliary, members are better equipped and prepared to respond to marine incidents, helping to enhance the safety of their communities and the surrounding waters and coasts. In total, under the fourth year of the Indigenous Community Boats Volunteer Pilot Program, 14 communities have received $3.5 million in funding.

52 organizations sent a letter to Governor Newsom, Lt. Governor Kounalakis, and the Legislature requesting action to reverse the decline in West Coast ports’ market share before California permanently loses jobs and direly needed state revenue. The sector that supports 1 in 3 jobs in California and 1.6 million trade-related jobs in Southern California, has seen US West Coast ports’ market share decline by 19.4 percent since 2006 according to an analysis released last year.  The letter urges the State to re-examine state and regional regulations that are creating a disincentives and to promote and invest in their ports and goods movement industries.

The US Surface Transportation Board (STB) has sent letters to 7 railways to gather information on policies and practices relating to demurrage and detention charges. US regulators are stepping up their monitoring after the Biden administration on July 9 issued an executive order targeting container shipping and railroads, though the latter was centered around giving more shippers access to more than one railroad. In the letter from the STB Chair, Martin Oberman, it implies that the Board is considering actions with respect to the existing intermodal exemption. Intermodal rail in the United States falls into a regulatory grey area. The Federal Maritime Commission doesn’t regulate container shipping on rail, and an exemption keeps the STB at arm’s length from regulating containers and trailers on freight car. Shippers have increasingly encouraged the STB to get more involved in regulating intermodal rail transport.

On July 19th, Royal Caribbean International's Serenade of the Seas sailed its first revenue cruise from the Port of Seattle for Alaska.  This is the first revenue cruise for Alaska since September 2019 follow a test sailing conducted earlier in the month with volunteers. While the Serenade of the Seas will not clear the 95% vaccination threshold, the cruise line is still requiring passengers 16 and older to have been vaccinated. In August, it will require vaccines for passengers 12 and older. All crew members are fully vaccinated. Canada lifted its ban on cruise ships in November this year but BC ports will miss out on the 83 schedule cruise voyages scheduled this year from Seattle by seven major cruise lines.

As container rates and associated supply chain chaos escalate, two related trends are galvanizing the breakbulk sector: shippers and their forwarders are booking more and more laden containers on multipurpose vessel/heavy-lift ships, and many are testing out cargoes in the breakbulk mode.  Breakbulk operators are keenly aware that spillover effects from the tumultuous container market will not last forever and are currently enjoying productivity gains that they have not seen for almost a decade.  There are no new multipurpose vessel/heavy-lift ships entering the market any time soon but the spillover to this sector is definitely giving owners some much needed market confidence.

Member authorities of the Tokyo and the Paris Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Port State Control are to launch a joint Concentrated Inspection Campaign (CIC) on vessel stability. It will be held for three months, commencing from September 1, 2021, and ending November 30, 2021, and inspectors will examine specific areas related to the campaign in conjunction with the regular Port State Control inspection.  The CIC will confirm that ship's crew are familiar with assessing the actual stability condition on completion of cargo operations before departure and on all stages of the voyage.  A pre-defined questionnaire to assess that information and equipment provided onboard complies with the relevant conventions, that the master and officers are familiar with operations relating to stability (in general) and that equipment is properly maintained and functioning.