COS Weekly Newsletter - Friday, 15 October 2021

Wolverine Terminals ULC has announced that it is starting construction of its Marine Fuel Terminal at the Port of Prince Rupert to provide fuel distribution services for large vessels visiting the Port. The Project is aligned with Prince Rupert Port Authority’s (PRPA) land use planning and development strategy, and the addition of a dedicated marine fuel facility to the Port of Prince Rupert provides a critical service for a competitive and growing gateway. The operation of the fuel terminal is subject to PRPA’s updated bunkering guidelines that reflect global best practices. To learn more about the Project, visit: https://wolverineterminals.com.

Tsawwassen First Nation and the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority have signed a historic relationship agreement. As neighbours and partners, the agreement will formalize the partnership between Tsawwassen First Nation and the port authority, govern their long-term relationship, and provide a framework to support collaborative work together in Tsawwassen Traditional territory.  The relationship agreement reflects the joint commitment to act as partners in protecting Tsawwassen lands, upholding treaty rights and advancing collective goals of environmental stewardship. The agreement represents a promise to work together in a manner that reflects mutual respect and ensures that everyone’s voice is treated equally.

The Victoria Clipper, a passenger-only vessel that travels between Pier 69 in downtown Seattle and the Belleville Terminal in downtown Victoria in two hours and 45 minutes, has halted operations until spring 2022 due to reduced service demand. Service had only just resumed in mid-September after 17 months of cancelled sailings while non-essential travel between Canada and the United States was forbidden. Unfortunately a majority of the employees will be furloughed until service resumes.

The Vancouver Fraser Port Authority (VFPA) has published its proposed fee amendments for 2022. The amendments apply a 0.7% CPI increase to berthage, wharfage and harbour dues. Annually adjusted rates for the existing Gateway Infrastructure Fee (GIF) and the new GIF are also included.  The draft fee document for 2022 is available at www.portvancouver.com/fees and comments will be accepted prior to December 16, 2021. 

COSCO Shipping Lines launched two "express lines", which are the "Prince Rupert express line" (CEN-EXPRESS) calling Qingdao-Shanghai-Prince Rupert and the "Los Angeles express line" (CEN-PLUS) calling Tianjin-Qingdao-Shanghai-Los Angeles. The CEN-EXPRESS is a brand-new service by COSCO Shipping based on its long-term operation locally at Prince Rupert for more than ten years. Relying on the combined cooperation with local railway companies, COSCO connects express unit-trains, creating joint advantages of sea-rail intermodal transportation and  avoiding the congestion of LA/LB terminals with direct rail service to US Mid-West inland areas such as Chicago, Memphis and Detroit. The transit time will be 2 weeks shorter compared with the current conventional path. Five 4250 TEU vessels will be deployed on the CEN-EXPRESS, thus providing 1500 TEU of incremental weekly capacity.

The Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) has concluded its investigation into the fire that destroyed the  town of Lytton, BC on 30 June 2021. The TSB investigation has not revealed any evidence to link railway operations to the fire. Therefore, unless new information establishes that a TSB reportable event occurred, no further work will be performed and no TSB investigation report will be produced. The wildfire remains under investigation by BC Wildfire Service and the RCMP.

US President Biden is convening business leaders, port leaders, and union leaders to address delays and congestion across the transportation supply chain.   The groups in Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach and the ILWU have announced a series of public and private commitments to move goods faster, and strengthen the resiliency of the supply chain by moving towards a 24/7 operations.  These two ports are the point of entry for 40 percent of containers to the US. Large companies such as Walmart, UPS, FedEx, Samsung, Target and the Home Depot are announcing they will use expanded hours to move more cargo off the docks, so ships can come to shore faster. These commitments will help unlock capacity in the rest of the system—including highways, railroads and warehouses—by reducing congestion during the day.

The International Maritime Organization's 104th session of the Marine Safety Committee (MSC) ) wrapped up last week and approved a draft IMO Assembly resolution consolidating issues related to crew change, access to medical care, ʺkey workerʺ designation and seafarers’ prioritization for COVID-19 vaccination, with a view to adoption at the 32nd session of the IMO Assembly (6-15 December 2021).  Other items include future work on autonomous ships  and commitment for a new output on "Development of guidance on assessments and applications of remote surveys, ISM Code audits and ISPS Code verifications" with a target completion year of 2024.  

Typhoons throughout Southeast Asia continue to hammer the container the supply chain with port closures adding even further delays. Although port operations are largely back to normal in Shenzhen and Hong Kong after the last tropical storm’s passing, the total container ship count off the two vital hubs had ballooned to 271 as of early Friday, the highest count recorded since Bloomberg News started tracking the data in April. Globally, there are now 584 container ships stuck outside ports, nearly double the number at the start of the year, according to real-time data from Kuehne+Nagel, one of the world’s largest freight forwarders.

State-run Coal India Ltd, the world’s biggest coal miner, has temporarily stopped supplying nonpower users, the company said in a statement on Thursday, as India battles one of its worst power supply deficits in years. India is competing against buyers such as China, the world's largest coal consumer, which is under pressure to ramp up imports amid a severe power crunch. India has asked power producers to import up to 10 per cent of their coal needs amid fuel shortages and has warned states that federal companies will curb their power supplies if they are found selling electricity on power exchanges to cash in on surging prices. India is the world’s second largest coal producer, with the world’s fourth largest reserves but most of India’s 135 coal-fired power plants have fuel stocks of less than three days.

Mediterranean Shipping Co. (MSC) has become the first container line to adopt a standardized set of global facility codes developed by the Bureau International des Containers (BIC), with assistance from the Digital Container Shipping Association (DCSA), in an attempt to mirror the way worldwide airports have standardized three-digit International Air Transport Association (IATA) codes. Other DCSA participating carriers, such as Maersk, CMA CGM, Hapag-Lloyd, ONE, Evergreen Line, HMM, Yang Ming, and Zim Integrated Shipping Services are in the process of adopting the code.  The next step will be to geofence the facilities to support automated tracking of smart containers.

On October 8th, Avenir LNG Limited  announced the delivery of The Avenir Aspiration, the third 7,500 cbm dual-purpose, liquefied natural gas supply and bunkering vessel (LBV) delivered to Avenir and the first of four vessels to be delivered from Nantong CIMC Sinopacific Offshore & Engineering Co. The Avenir Aspiration will embark on her maiden voyage to Europe where she will be stationed in the Mediterranean and begin supplying LNG to Avenir’s HIGAS LNG Terminal in Sardinia, which entered into commercial operations in August 2021. In addition to servicing Avenir’s own demand, the Aspiration will provide LNG bunkering services via ship-to-ship transfer to multiple customers throughout the Mediterranean. The vessel will provide critical infrastructure in key ports across the Mediterranean to support the growth of LNG as a marine fuel and help substantially reduce CO2, NOx and SOx emissions in the region.

Ship Type:                 Bunkering Tanker
Flag:                          Malta
Year Built:                 2021
Tonnage:                  7308
Length:                      116 m
Breadth:                     19 m