COS Weekly Newsletter - Friday, 29 July 2022

BC Ferries and the Snuneymuxw First Nation say they've entered into a historic formal agreement recognizing the nation's treaty rights, that will guide the ferry company's business decisions in Snuneymuxw territory in Nanaimo, on Vancouver Island.  Four ferry terminals operate in the nation's traditional territory: Departure Bay, Nanaimo Harbour and Duke Point in Nanaimo, and Descano Bay on Gabriola Island.

BC Ferries' release indicates that the agreement outlines "shared goals" and future discussions on cumulative impacts of ferry operations, employment and economic opportunities, an inclusion of Snuneymuxw culture and Sna'wayalth. The document also outlines a process for BC Ferries to engage the Snuneymuxw on specific projects with the aim of obtaining "free, prior and informed consent" from the nation on major decisions.

The Canadian Marine Industry Foundation (“CMIF”) has announced the appointment of Julia Fields as Executive Director, effective August 22, 2022. Julia joins the CMIF with more than 20 years’ experience in communications and journalism in Canada, the U.S. and the UK, including most recently as the Communications Director with the Chamber of Marine Commerce. In her role as Executive Director, Julia will implement the vision and mandate of the CMIF, providing leadership in identifying priorities and objectives, directing staff, overseeing program delivery, supporting committees, and ensuring the CMIF’s financial and organizational viability.

The CMIF serves as a resource centre for information on careers at sea and ashore as well as financial assistance available to support maritime studies at nautical schools and academic institutions. The CMIF also serves as a point of contact to direct educational, mentoring and employment inquiries to appropriate channels.

New projects funded by the Province of British Columbia in partnership with coastal communities and Indigenous Peoples will clean as much as 1,000 kilometres of BC's coastline, remove as many as 30 derelict vessels and support local jobs.  An additional $3.8 million from the Clean Coast, Clean Waters Initiative Fund will be used this summer to tackle the cleanup and removal of polluting marine debris, and create 440 jobs in coastal and Indigenous communities. Funding will go to Coastal Restoration Society, Ocean Legacy Foundation and Misty Isles Economic Development Society.

BNSF Railway and J.B. Hunt will begin serving a new intermodal terminal at the Port of Tacoma next month. BNSF and the Northwest Seaport Alliance said the terminal will meet increased demand for intermodal service in the Seattle region. The new terminal, on 16 acres leased from the port authority, will have a capacity for 50,000 lifts annually. The Tacoma South facility will complement BNSF’s current domestic intermodal facility in Tukwila, serving NWSA’s Seattle Harbor.

BNSF will launch a direct container-only joint service with J.B. Hunt between its Tacoma South facility and Chicago. The new service will provide greater network and facility efficiency for BNSF while increasing container capacity and chassis availability for J. B. Hunt.

The Port of Oakland is back in business this week, after five days of protests against California’s AB5 law hampered and even forced the closure of port operations.  On Monday, July 25, truckers largely returned to work after authorities warned that continuing to block the gates could lead to arrest. Protesters were moved to “Free Speech Zones” away from the terminal gates. The trucking industry is expected to again challenge the law in a California district court, but in the meantime, it’s unclear how AB5 will be enforced.

Freight handlers told the Wall Street Journal that it could take weeks to work through the backlog of intermodal containers that stacked up during the blockade.

The Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) is moving quickly to fulfill the requirements of the new Ocean Shipping Reform Act of 2022.  The most immediate deadline the Commission must meet is initiating and completing a rulemaking on unreasonable refusal to deal or negotiate on vessel space accommodations.  Commission staff initiated this rulemaking effort the day OSRA was enacted and a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking seeking public comment is expected to be published in the immediate future.  The Commission is on track to have a Final Rule in effect by the statutorily mandated deadline of December 2022.

Last Friday, the FMC issued and industry advisory to Vessel-Operating Common Carriers (VOCCs) notifying that of the immediate requirement to comply with detention and demurrage billing practices and that there is no-phase-in period.

In a positive sign that the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) and the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA) are finding common ground, comes the July 26th announcement from the ILWU that the two sides “reached a tentative agreement on health benefits, subject to other issues in the negotiations.”  The previous agreement expired on July 1, 2022 and talks that began on May 10 are continuing. The ILWU has been working with the PMA and the Biden administration, which has intervened heavily in the negotiations, to keep workers on the job and prevent work stoppages.

The first shipment of grain from the Odesa region following the agreement by Russia and Ukraine mediated by Turkey, is set to depart from the Odesa region.  Officials from the UN, Turkey, Ukraine and Russia have established a Joint Coordination Centre and are finalizing details on how to safely transport ships through the Black Sea as Russian forces continue to pummel Ukraine’s coastline.  Russian forces launched a series of missile strikes on Ukrainian port cities after agreeing to a limited cease-fire. Both Ukraine and Russia have agreed not to attack any vessels involved in the initiative for 120 days.

Meanwhile, in the northern Lebanese port of Tripoli, authorities are investigating a Ukrainian claim that a Syrian-flagged ship, Laodicea, under US sanctions at the port is carrying Ukrainian grain stolen by Russia.  Nearly 10 tons of wheat and barley are on board.

Workers at the port of Felixstowe in Suffolk balloted 92% in favour of a strike next month, rejecting a 5% pay rise offer from the Felixstowe Dock and Railway Company, which their union, Unite, pointed out would be a real-terms pay cut with retail price inflation standing at 11.8%.  Unite’s 1,900 Felixstowe members are responsible for all aspects of operations at the UK's largest container port, handling about 45,000 containers a week, i.e. 40% of containers entering and leaving the UK.

Simon Weller, the assistant general secretary of the train drivers union Aslef and a national council member of the Trades Union Congress, said strike ballots planned by civil servants and teachers alongside more strikes already planned by college staff and across the rail network – starting with train drivers walking out at seven operators on Saturday – would increase “organic momentum”.

The Ocean Cleanup has now officially removed more than 100,000 kg of plastic from the Great Pacific Garbage Patch (GPGP).  Since deployment in August 2021, System 002 has now collected 101,353 kg of plastic over 45 extractions, sweeping an area of ocean of over 3000km² – comparable to the size of Luxembourg or Rhode Island.  Added to the 7,173 kg of plastic captured by our previous prototype systems, The Ocean Cleanup has now collected 108,526 kg of plastic from the GPGP – more than the combined weight of two and a half Boeing 737-800s, or the dry weight of a space shuttle!  According to their 2018 study, the total amount of accumulated plastic is 79,000,000 kg, or 100,000,000 kg including the Outer GPGP. Thus, if the 100,000 kg haul is repeated 1,000 times – the Great Pacific Garbage Patch will be gone.

The M/V Mark Baker is a new River-Class, self-unloading bulk carrier and is believed to be the first ship for US Great Lakes service built on the Great Lakes since 1983. Measuring 639 feet in length (78 feet W, 45 feet H, 28,000 DWT), the ship will transport raw materials such as salt, iron ore, and stone to support manufacturing throughout the Great Lakes region.  The "laker" is named for Interlake’s President and second-generation leader of the family-owned and -operated Interlake Steamship fleet.

Constructed at Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin specifically to navigate the freshwater lakes and river systems, the Mark W. Baker is the first ship on the Great Lakes with engines that meet EPA Tier 4 emissions standards. She is powered by twin EMD main engines generating 8,000 total horsepower that will turn a single four-blade, controllable-pitch propeller through a Lufkin twin-input, single-output gearbox. She is outfitted with 1,000-hp Kongsberg bow and stern thrusters. Her hull has been optimized for efficiency and all systems have been designed to ensure low energy consumption. A Kongsberg high-lift rudder optimizes the wake through the propeller.

The combination of larger hatch openings and additional cargo hold space was designed with future cargoes in mind to include non-free-flowing bulk material such as wind-turbine blades and
project cargo.