COS Weekly Newsletter - Friday, 26 August 2022

At 12:01 pm on Thursday, August 25th the Canadian Merchant Service Guild's captains and engineers employed by Seaspan ULC commenced strike action after serving 72-hour notice earlier in the week. Efforts to reach an agreement before the strike deadline were unsuccessful. The strike will impact all 30 of the Seaspan tugs operating in British Columbia. Seaspan has made arrangements with other service providers to support its contracted ship-docking customers to minimize disruptions.

The Prince Rupert Port Authority’s (PRPA) Fairview-Ridley Connector Corridor was officially opened on August 24th with a ribbon-cutting ceremony. Testing on the route is underway with expectations that the Corridor will be fully operational by August 29th. The new road and rail corridor directly links Fairview Terminal, both current and future capacity, with future import and export logistics sites on South Kaien Island and Ridley Island, that will offer new opportunities for Canadian businesses to reach global markets through containerized trade. Furthermore by moving traffic away from urban areas and onto PRPA-owned roads, the Connector Corridor will help cut commercial vehicles emissions by up to 75 percent and reduce truck traffic congestion in the city of Prince Rupert (see video).

Students at Coast Mountain College will gain hands-on experience with a new mobile marine classroom beginning in September.  The BC government provided $250,000 to Coast Mountain College to purchase a new 7.6-metre (27 foot), 12-passenger, aluminum-hulled boat to serve students and staff in the college’s applied coastal ecology program. The new boat is named Na Malgsa Aks, meaning “the story the water tells” in the La̱xyuubm Ts’msyen language.

The combined classroom and field-work experience the boat will enable will prepare students for careers in sustainability, ecology, and fish and wildlife conservation. The technical skills students learn in the program are in demand for more than 111,000 anticipated job openings in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) expected in BC by 2031.

The Government of Canada has signed a Joint Declaration of Intent with Germany that commits both countries to collaborate on the export of clean Canadian hydrogen to Germany. The Canada–Germany Hydrogen Alliance will enable investment in hydrogen projects, support the development of secure supply chain, and establish a transatlantic supply corridor in preparation for exports of clean Canadian hydrogen by 2025.

This Declaration sends a clear signal to the private sector and to sub-national leaders in both countries that Canada and Germany are committed to a policy and regulatory environment that will facilitate and encourage investment in the hydrogen value chain in both countries.

A new, state-of-the-art Wärtsilä training engine has been installed at the Canadian Coast Guard College to enable personnel and trainees to learn hands-on how to operate, repair, and rebuild a Wärtsilä W8L26 diesel engine. Featuring a control room, equipment, and systems layout similar to those on a Canadian Coast Guard ship, the training engine effectively prepares students and personnel for future work in our fleet. There is no other marine training institute that offers training on a Wärtsilä engine, or on medium- and high-speed marine propulsion engines in a fully simulated state.

Puget Sound Pilots (PSP) has established a formal maternity policy. The historic June vote means that PSP is the first pilot association in the US to implement a dedicated maternity plan for member pilots. PSP believes a strong maternity policy will help to achieve its DEI goal of establishing safe, inclusive, and equitable pathways for a career in pilotage. In 2017 Capt. Sandy Bendixen joined the ranks as one of the youngest and the first female pilot trainee with PSP.

The World Shipping Council has submitted a paper to the International Maritime Organization's 79th session of the Marine Environment Protection Committee to highlight its views on six critical pathways to achieving the industry's decarbonization targets.  These include a global carbon price, new building standards, fuel life cycle, fuel supply development, green corridors and R&D investment.

The board of the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS), representing 80% of the world’s merchant fleet, today appointed Emanuele Grimaldi, President and Managing Director of Grimaldi Euromed SpA, as Chairman of the Board. Grimaldi, a former president of both Confitarma and European Community Shipowners Association (ECSA), was formally voted in as chair by the ICS Board of Directors, following the announcement of his nomination last year. Alongside ICS Secretary General, Guy Platten, his mandate will include working to find private and public solutions to a range of issues facing the sector, including decarbonization, digitization, diversity, and crew change.  He succeeds current chair, Esben Poulsson, Executive Chairman ENESEL PTE. LTD., who has served as ICS Chair since 2016, and who steps down after serving three terms of office

Arriving in Montreal this week for her first trip on the Great Lakes/Seaway was the MV Verila.  Launched in June 2022, the MV Verila is the 4th from the series of eight 32,150 tonne bulk carriers contracted by Navigation Maritime Bulgare, and built at the Chinese shipyard Jiangsu Yangzijiang Shipbuilding Co.

She is the third vessel in Navibulgar history to be name Verila.  The first m/v Verila (ІМО 7016711) was built in “Georgi Dimitrov” Shipyrad in Varna. She was serving in Navibulgar fleet from 1969 to 2003. On May 11, 2007, the flag of the second m/v Verila (IMO 9136931) was raised in the port of Algeciras. She was serving in Navibulgar fleet till 2018.