COS Weekly Newsletter - Friday, 8 July 2022

Last Friday, 639 members of the United Truckers Association voted unanimously in favour of labour action against the Port of Vancouver's updated Rolling Truck Age Program which now restricts the use of trucks over 12 years of age on port property in an effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.  Truckers are upset about the program, which is set to begin on Sept. 15 and will affect about 20 percent of the 1,800 trucks that haul containers to and from the ports in a bid to reduce emissions.  The union has said that under the program 360 drivers will need to buy a new or lightly used truck, which can cost more than $200,000 in today's market.  80 percent of trucks serving the port tenants are already compliant. The truckers will delay job action for the month of July in a bid to continue negotiations with the port and the federal government, the union said Tuesday morning.

Canadian Pacific has joined the United Nations Global Compact, a voluntary leadership platform for the development, implementation and disclosure of socially responsible business practices. The Global Compact is the largest corporate sustainability initiative in the world, with more than 15,000 participating companies in more than 160 countries. In joining the compact, CP commits to aligning its strategies and operations with 10 universally accepted principles in the areas of human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption, as well as taking action in support of the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

The Canadian National Railway (CN) and the union representing 750 of its signal and communication workers agreed to enter binding arbitration, bringing an end to a two-week strike at midnight on Tuesday, July 5th. During the strike, CN was able to maintain safe rail operations after implementing its operational contingency plan.  The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) informed CN of its intention to strike in mid-June after failing to reach a new agreement on benefit and wage increases. Those issues remain unresolved and will be addressed through arbitration.

On June 30th, the Prince Rupert Port Authority issued a notice of remission for the proposed tariff addition that was to take effect on July 1st.  The proposed Fairview Connector Road Fee was between $5 to $10 per container moving via the Fairview Ridley Connector Corridor.

Transport Canada has issued Ship Safety Bulletin 15/2022 Protection of the Killer Whale (Orcinus orca) in the Waters of Southern British Columbia, 2022 covering various measures that came into effect on June 1st to reduce the acoustic and physical disturbance of vessels on the endangered Southern Resident Killer Whale (SRKW).  The SSB highlights the Minister of Transport's Interim Order for the Protection of the Killer Whale (Orcinus orca) in the Waters of Southern British Columbia, 2022 and details interim sanctuary zones and the approach distance prohibition for vessels in the vicinity of an SRKW.

US Representatives John Garamendi (D-CA) and Jim Costa (D-CA) introduced a bill entitled American Port Access Privileges Act of 2022. The bill would implement a preferential berthing system in US ports with first priority given to U.S.-flagged vessels, and second priority to ocean-going commercial vessels servicing multiple ports in the United States or with significant cargo bookings of American exports. The bill would also authorize the US Department of Transportation's Bureau of Transportation Statistics to collect data on berthing and cargo practices at US ports to evaluate ocean carriers’ practices for port calls and cargo bookings and monitor the impact of preferential berthing afforded under the bill.

INTERCARGO has submitted its latest Bulk Carrier Casualty Report to the Sub-Committee on IMO Instruments (III 8), convening at the end of the month. The report identified that liquefaction continues to be the greatest contributor to loss of life in the bulk sector. In the last ten years, the lives of 70 seafarers were lost as a result of five bulk carrier casualties, four carrying nickel ore and one carrying bauxite. While liquefaction accounted for only 18.5% of the 27 total vessel casualties in this period, it was the cause of 76.1% of the loss of life. Groundings are the most common reported cause of bulk carrier losses from 2012 to 2021 representing 48.1% of total losses.

The Report highlighted that not only were IMSBC Code requirements not being followed, especially in relation to testing and certification of cargo condition, but that there was also lack of adequate assessment and monitoring of the condition of cargoes being loaded in the cargo holds by representatives of all interests.

The Paris and Tokyo MoU's will be carrying a joint Concentrated Inspection Campaign (CIC) on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers (STCW) starting on 1 September until 30 November.  It is anticipated that the CIC will focus on the evaluation of competences of the Master, officers and crew when performing duties and during emergency scenarios. These are explained in detail in Appendix 7 of Res. A.1155(32) “Guidelines for control of operational requirements.” This appendix was completely revised and published in the beginning of 2022. It covers a huge variety of operational inspection areas – from efficient communication between crew members, and assessing navigational controls such as ECDIS, to voyage planning or safe navigation, and witnessing emergency drills.

ClassNK has released the “Guidelines for Ships Using Alternative Fuels (Edition 2.0),” which sets forth safety requirements for ships fueled by methanol, ethanol, LPG, and ammonia. In particular, specific requirements for ammonia-fueled ships have been added to provide guidance for the design of alternative-fueled ships. These guidelines comprehensively describe safety requirements for methanol, ethanol, and ammonia-fueled ships. Taking into account the risks posed by the use of alternative fuels against ships, crews, and the environment, they specify requirements for installation, controls, and safety devices to minimize those risks.

Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd. and Miura Co., Ltd. have announced the development of new centrifugal-type microplastic (MP) collection device, which can continuously collect MPs while a vessel is underway, by leveraging their technology and knowledge of an earlier MP collection device they co-developed. The new device was installed on the MOL-operated car carrier Emerald Ace last month for a demonstration test.

The addition of a centrifuge allows the new device to efficiently separate floating microplastics from concentrated seawater with a high density of floating debris, without closed plumbing. Microplastics can be continuously collected while sailing, by connecting the system to the cooling seawater line, which always draws in seawater. This is said to give the system an annual seawater treatment capacity of about 70 times that of the previous device.

Miura is moving ahead with the development of the product, which has a larger treatment capacity, and a full treatment system for ballast discharge water by combining a ballast water treatment system and microplastic collection device and cooling seawater.

The Emerald Ace was built as world's first newly built hybrid car carrier in 2012, and is equipped with a hybrid electric power supply system that combines a 160kW solar generation system(*) - jointly developed by MHI, Energy Company of Panasonic Group), and MOL - with lithium-ion batteries that can store some 2.2MWh of electricity. Conventional power generation systems use diesel-powered generators to supply onboard electricity while berthed. On the Emerald Ace, electricity is generated by the solar power generation system while the vessel is underway and stored in the lithium-ion batteries. The diesel-powered generator is completely shut down when the ship is in berth, and the batteries provide all the electricity it needs, resulting in zero emissions at the pier.

Capacity: 6,400 vehicles (standard passenger cars)
LOA: 199.99m
Beam: 32.26m
Depth: 34.52m
Draft: 9.725m