BC Ferries revealed the names of its third and fourth Island Class ferries at a special naming ceremony at Victoria’s Point Hope Maritime. Island Nagalis and Island K’ulut’a are the newest vessels to enter the fleet, allowing two-ship service to begin on the Campbell River – Quadra Island route in 2022.  BC Ferries selected the names following a community engagement process. The names celebrate the important connection to some of the coastal communities the ferries will serve. In both Kwak̓wala and Lik̓wala, two of the Kwakwaka’wakw dialects, Nagalis means “dawn on the land” and K’ulut’a is the name for Porpoise. In keeping with maritime tradition, BC Ferries selected sponsors for each of the ships. These roles are important – each sponsor bestows the ship with good luck and protection for all those who travel on them. Each ship has a community sponsor and a sponsor from the BC Ferries family. In recognition of her achievement and service with BC Ferries, Fleet Strategic Planning Manager Joanne Doyle christened Island Nagalis along with Lorraine Henderson from Wei Wai Kum First Nation representing the community. June Johnson from We Wai Kai Nation joined BC Ferries’ Crewing Advisor Jennifer Thacker to christen Island K’ulut’a. BC Ferries is pleased to partner with the First Peoples' Cultural Council (FPCC) once again to commission original artwork from Indigenous artists for the interior of the Island Class vessels. The art recognizes Indigenous peoples as stewards and original mariners of B.C.’s coastal waterways. FPCC will manage the open call to artists, and facilitate an equitable selection process. Further details will be announced in the fall.

The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) will proceed with the resumption of service at various small marine reporting sites, airports of entry and ferry terminals over the coming days and weeks. This follows the coming into force of new public health measures affecting travel to Canada for fully vaccinated United States (U.S.) citizens and permanent residents on August 9. At 23:59 EDT on September 6, 2021, service will resume at below Ferry Terminals in British Columbia:
• Alaska State Ferry Terminal
• Belleville Terminal
• Blackball terminal
• Washington State Ferry Terminal

This week, Chamber member A.P. Moller - Maersk announced that it will introduce the first in a groundbreaking series of 8 large ocean-going container vessels capable of being operated on carbon neutral methanol in 2024. The vessels will be built by Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) and have a nominal capacity of approx. 16,000 containers (Twenty Foot Equivalent - TEU). The agreement with HHI includes an option for 4 additional vessels in 2025. The series will replace older vessels, generating annual CO₂ emissions savings of around 1 million tonnes. The vessels will offer Maersk customers carbon neutral transportation at scale on the high seas.

The vessels come with a dual fuel engine setup. Additional capital expenditure for the dual fuel capability, which enables operation on methanol as well as conventional low Sulphur fuel, will be in the range of 10-15% of the total price, enabling Maersk to take a significant leap forward in its commitment to scale carbon neutral solutions and lead the decarbonisation of container logistics. Maersk intends to operate the vessels on carbon neutral e-methanol or sustainable bio-methanol as soon as possible. Maersk acknowledges that sourcing an adequate amount of carbon neutral methanol from day one in service will be challenging, as it requires a significant production ramp up of proper carbon neutral methanol production, for which Maersk continues to engage in partnerships and collaborations with relevant players. The vessels will be designed to have a flexible operational profile, enabling them to perform efficiently across many trades, and add flexibility regarding customer needs. They will feature a methanol propulsion configuration developed in collaboration with makers including MAN ES, Hyundai (Himsen) and Alfa Laval which represents a significant scale-up of the technology from the previous size limit of around 2,000 TEU. The vessels will be classed by the American Bureau of Shipping and sail under the Danish flag.

The Ningbo-Zhoushan port’s Meidong container terminal reopened on Wednesday, after being closed for two weeks due to a COVID-19 outbreak and one week after some cargo operations commenced on a limited basis.   The Meidong terminal closed on Aug. 11 after a carrier worker tested positive for COVID-19. According to local reports, subsequent testing of about 50,000 people in the area showed no further cases. Truckers began picking up containers on Wednesday, but their arrivals were staggered to avoid congestion.  The terminal is mainly used by the Ocean Alliance, which consists of COSCO Shipping/OOCL, CMA CGM, and Evergreen Line.  It is expected that the terminal will return to normal operations by September 1st.

On July 28, the liquefied natural gas (LNG) carrier Diamond Gas Victoria was delivered. The new ship will transport LNG from British Columbia for the LNG Canada project, as well as from other locations around the world, under a long-term time-charter contract with Diamond Gas International Pte. Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of Mitsubishi Corporation (MC), which has a stake in the LNG Canada project. The vessel was built at Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries and is owned by NYK, Asia LNG Transport Dua Sdn. Bhd. (ALT Dua), and MC through the joint venture Diamond LNG Shipping 6 Pte. Ltd. The NYK Group will be responsible for ship management. Diamond Gas Victoria is equipped with a state-of-the-art WinGD-made dual-fuel slow-speed diesel engine (i.e., X-DF diesel engine) that has superior fuel-consumption efficiency and can operate on marine gas oil or boil off gas stored in the cargo tank. The vessel will also feature a re-liquefaction system that can use re-liquefied excess boil-off gas and return it to the cargo tank. The cargo tank will be a 174,000 cubic meter capacity membrane-type tank that will make use of advanced insulating materials to suppress the boil-off rate (percentage of gas volume that vaporizes during navigation) in the cargo tank and realize superior efficiency and economical LNG transportation.
• Length overall: 297.16 meters
• Breadth: about 46.40 meters
• Gross tonnage: 117,564 tons
• Main engine: X-DF engine
• Cargo tank capacity: about 174,000 cubic meters
• Shipbuilder: Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries Co. Ltd.
• Flag state: Singapore