COS Weekly Newsletter - Friday, 9 September 2022

Activity at the Vancouver Shipyards in North Vancouver has been impacted by the Canadian Merchant Service Guild strike as an estimated 1,000 unionized trades refused to cross picket lines set up by striking tugboat captains last Friday. A Labour Relations Board decision issued Sept. 1 allowed striking tugboat workers from the marine division to set up picket lines preventing shipyard workers from reporting to work.  The company plans to challenge the labour board ruling, as continuation of the work stoppage for any length of time, could spell further delays for the federal shipbuilding program at Seaspan, which has already been plagued with setbacks. At the end of June, Ottawa announced that the expected delivery date for both joint support ships has been pushed back by two years – the latest of several such timeline revisions. The first ship is now expected to be delivered in 2025, while the second ship won’t be finished until 2027.

Grain production in Canada looks set to rebound strongly in 2022 after a severe drought ravaged last year’s harvest. Statistics Canada published its latest Outlook for Principal Field Crops on August 29, stating that vastly improved growing conditions for most of the Prairies are likely to lead to a much larger crop than was previously expected. The production projections in the latest report are derived from predictive modelling based on field conditions at the end of July.  Canada’s second biggest winter crop is canola, and this season’s production is set for a bounce by more than 46 percent, according to StatsCan. Production is pegged at 18.4Mt, up from just 12.6Mt last harvest, once again restabilising Canada as the world’s biggest producer

The Vancouver Fraser Port Authority is deferring the implementation of its Rolling Truck Age Program by a final six months to April 3, 2023.  Transport Canada has intervened suggesting that a final adjustment to the program schedule will provide additional flexibility to better enable operators to comply with the program's requirements.

Women & girls are invited to test drive a Royal Canadian Navy warship at sea on October 22nd. The Achieve Anything Foundation has organized this event to raise awareness of one of the many opportunities available to women in high technology fields.  The Day Sail event will provide an incredible, hands-on experience of a day in the life of Royal Canadian Navy personnel on board an active duty warship, including a tour of various ship duty stations, crew quarters & mess, operational equipment; RCAF joint search and rescue demonstration, ship firefighting simulation, and scenario demonstrations of the warship’s impressive manoeuvring capabilities. Minimum age requirement 12 years.  The Foundation is always looking for volunteers and has a number of events coming up to inspire females to pursue opportunities in aviation, aerospace, marine & defence and other high-tech stem fields.

The Government of Canada is committed to supporting the marine transportation sector’s transition to net-zero emissions by 2050.  As an early step, Transport Canada is developing a national framework on green shipping corridors to support and facilitate early industry efforts.  A proposed framework has been developed and will be shared in a bilingual webinar on September 20, from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. Eastern Standard Time.  If you are interested in attending, please RSVP to Eric.Huberdeau@tc.gc.ca by September 18^th.  An invitation with the link to the webinar will be provided to registered participants.

Transport Canada has released its first newsletter highlighting some of its latest achievements in the transportation of dangerous goods program, including its Regulatory Oversight Management application, lessons learned with remote and virtual inspections during COVID-19 limitations, and the regulatory sandbox pilot project on electronic shipping documents for dangerous goods shipments.  Also is the updated Guide for reporting dangerous goods incidents which now has a more streamlined structure with more complete definitions and examples to help cover a variety of scenarios that could lead to confusion in interpretation.

This is to notify you that an updated Ship Safety Bulletin No. 18/2021: Measures to Support Safe Cruise Travel in Canada has recently been posted to the Transport Canada website. The updated Ship Safety Bulleting Bulletin removes daily reporting requirements, introduces a requirement to report to Transport Canada once per voyage, and specifies that Authorized Representatives should continue to keep onboard daily records reflecting the health status of persons onboard.

The nation’s freight railroads have reached tentative agreements with the Transportation Communications Union/IAM; Brotherhood of Railway Carmen; International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers; the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers; and the American Train Dispatchers Association.

A newly released Association of American Railroads (AAR) report found that a nationwide rail service interruption would dramatically impact economic output and could cost more than $2 billion per day of a shutdown. If negotiations remain unsettled with the remaining unions by Friday, September 16 at 12:01 AM, Congress must act to prevent a service interruption that would immediately harm every economic sector served by rail. Failure to act could idle more than 7,000 trains daily and trigger retail product shortages, widespread manufacturing shutdowns, job losses and disruptions to hundreds of thousands of passenger rail customers.

We express our deepest condolences to the Royal Family on the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, Britain’s longest-reigning monarch, who passed away yesterday at the age of 96. It is difficult to think of another leader in modern history who has embodied the ‘duty first’ mindset more than the Queen did during her 70 years of reign.  While the Queen has always seen leadership as an act of service, she was selfless, kind, and led with dignity.  She lived a life of complete and utter devotion to her duty to serve and unite the nation.

When the Port of Long Beach welcomed Pasha Hawaii’s MV George III recently, it was the first time a container ship powered by liquefied natural gas (LNG) refueled on the West Coast.

Pasha Hawaii marked three generations of service to Hawaii, with the arrival of MV George III, the first of two new 774-foot Liquified Natural Gas (LNG)-powered containerships scheduled to be completed this year as part of the company’s ‘Ohana Class vessels.

Operating fully on natural gas from day one, the new Jones Act vessel surpasses the International Maritime Organization (IMO) 2030 emission standards for ocean vessels, representing the most technologically advanced and environmentally friendly vessel to serve Hawaii. Energy efficiencies are also achieved with a state-of-the-art engine, an optimized hull form, and an underwater propulsion system with a high-efficiency rudder and propeller.

George Pasha, III played an integral role in building the company’s foundation, which led to the transformation of Pasha Hawaii into a world-class transportation company. Under the direction of George Pasha, III, the company entered the Hawaii/Mainland trade lane in 2005 with the introduction of the first and only domestic Jones Act qualified pure car truck carrier called MV Jean Anne, named after his mother. George Pasha, III served as Chairman of the company until his passing in 2014. Honolulu will serve as the home port for George III.

In conjunction with the arrival of George III, Pasha Hawaii also announced an alliance with the Hawaiian Legacy Reforestation Initiative (HLRI), with an initial $20,000 donation and the launch of a tree planting carbon offset program involving personal-owned vehicles (POV) shipped to Hawaii on the Jean Anne. For every POV shipped, Pasha Hawaii will make a donation to HLRI to offset the carbon footprint of shipping a vehicle.