COS Weekly Newsletter - Friday, 7 October 2022

On October 5th federal mediators met with Westshore Terminals and ILWU 502. Talks were brief and failed to move the dial on the strike that commenced at midnight on September 16th. No further meetings are scheduled at this time.  The collective agreement that expired in January 31, 2022 represents 160 longshore workers.

The Pacific Pilotage Authority has announced that Julie Gascon has been appointed as the CEO from October 3, 2022. She replaces Kevin Obermeyer, who has served 23 years with the Authority, 16 of which as CEO.  Capt. Obermeyer will remain employed by the Authority as VP Internal and External Relations until his retirement in February 2023 to ensure an orderly transition.

Julie Gascon comes to us from Transport Canada where most recently she served as the Director General, Marine Safety and Security. Prior to that she held a number of increasingly responsible roles within Transport Canada and the Canadian Coast Guard. In addition, she also spent time as an officer on commercial vessels gaining invaluable insight into the needs and issues of the marine industry. She holds a Master Mariner’s certificate of competency as well as a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration. The link for more information can be found on the PPA website at: Welcome message - New CEO

The City of Prince Rupert is urging the BC Government to revisit the Port Property Tax Act and the cap that was permanently established in 2014.  Mayor Lee Brian informed residents that Prince Rupert has a $600 million infrastructure deficit for items including roads, wastewater treatment and updates to the local RCMP building. The tax paid by homeowners and small businesses to cover those costs is nearly double that of the capped terminals.

The summer months at Seaspan Shipyards brought exciting progress on ships being built and modernized for Canada, as well as a bevy of cruise ship repair projects. At Vancouver Shipyards the Royal Canadian Navy’s future Joint Support Ship saw the vessel’s bridge put in place, bringing the current height of the structure to 32.2m above baseline. Vancouver Drydock this quarter saw three separate cruise ships making a stop in North Vancouver for touch-ups before embarking on their exciting summer and fall cruise schedules. At Victoria Shipyards, repair and modernization work continues on a number of different Royal Canadian Navy frigates and submarines. The Seaspan team over on the Island is currently working on HMCS Regina as part of a Docking Work Period for the Navy. Unfortunately, work at the shipyards has been halted due to picket lines set by the 165 Canadian Merchant Service Guild tugboat captains and engineers on strike.

Unifor employees at the Port of Halifax’s Autoport took a strike vote on October 1 and could be off the job by October 8th following 48-hour strike notice.  Autoport, a CN Rail subsidiary, is one of North America’s largest vehicle processing and transshipment facilities. It handles nearly 185,000 vehicles per year. The union’s bargaining committee has been negotiating with the employer since February 15, 2021. The collective agreement expired on December 31, 2021.

The National Supply Chain Task Force, co-chaired by Louise Yako and Jean Gattuso, released its report with 21 recommended actions following extensive consultations and engagement in Canada and the US. The Final Report focuses on areas of action, collaboration, and transformation as overarching themes to improve Canada’s supply chain. The Report states that to position Canada as a strong competitor in the global market and strengthen our economy, it is imperative that the Government of Canada join forces with industry stakeholders to address the transportation supply chain crisis. This report recommends taking a national approach to doing so, encouraging governments and private sector stakeholders to collaborate in building digital data hubs that will help improve our understanding of the intricate transportation network, which in turn will enhance planning and real-time decision-making. It further recommends that Canada’s regulatory framework be modernized to reflect the future needs of an evolving transportation system.

San Francisco Mayor London Breed hosted California Gov. Gavin Newsom, Oregon Gov. Kate Brown, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee and British Columbia Premier John Horgan have signed the Pacific Coast Collaborative Statement of Cooperation that will see the regions invest in accelerating decarbonization with strategies such as electrifying drayage and cargo handling equipment; investing in infrastructure for shore power that helps reduce emissions from ships; and pursuing strategies to advance low- and zero-carbon shipping. Seven guiding principles will drive the cooperation, including support for public health, jobs and a lower cost of living; building on economic and technological innovations; accountability for emission reductions; respect for indigenous populations; and preserving and rebuilding natural eco-systems. The policy also requires a commitment to invest in climate infrastructure, including transport networks, as well as investment in building resilience in forests and communities devastated by wildfires in recent years.

The Federal Maritime Commission is proposing a new rule that seeks to bring more clarity, structure, and punctuality to the demurrage and detention billing practices of vessel operating common carriers (VOCCs), non-vessel-operating common carriers (NVOCCs), and marine terminal operators (MTOs). The Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) requires VOCCs, NVOCCs, and MTOs to issue bills for demurrage or detention only to parties that they have a contractual relationship with, to be clear regarding the nature of the charges, and issue invoices within 30 days after the charges stop accruing, and provide 30 days to dispute the charges with clear information about how charges should be disputed. Interested parties will have 60 days to submit comments to docket number FMC-2022-0066 at https://www.regulations.gov.

BNSF Railway has announced plans to invest more than $1.5 billion to construct a state-of-the-art master-planned rail facility in Southern California – and the first being developed by a Class 1 railroad. The Barstow International Gateway will be an approximately 4,500-acre new integrated rail facility on the west side of Barstow, consisting of a rail yard, intermodal facility and warehouses for transloading freight from international containers to domestic containers. The facility will allow the direct transfer of containers from ships at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach to trains for transport through the Alameda Corridor onto the BNSF mainline up to Barstow.

An online version of the Ship-Port Interface Guide was released this week by the IMO-GreenVoyage2050 Project and members of the Low Carbon GIA, which focuses on eight practical measures which can support GHG emission reduction at the ship-port interface. This Guide is a Call for Action to port and shipping sectors to facilitate the reduction of GHG emissions in the ship-port interface. This Guide is a useful document for shipowners, ship operators, charterers, ship agents, shipbrokers, port authorities, terminals and nautical services providers, and other relevant stakeholders, who ultimately play a key role in implementing the necessary changes and facilitating the uptake of emission reduction measures in the ship-port interface.

CCG has taken important steps in reducing its emission output, starting with a biodiesel testing project and the launch of the next phase in the construction of the Government of Canada’s first hybrid electric vessel. Earlier this month, following the award of a contract to procure biodiesel from Windsor, Ontario based Sterling Fuels, CCG broke historic ground for the Government of Canada, becoming the first Government agency to trial a 20% biodiesel blend in one of its vessels, the CCGS Caribou Isle.

Over the next months, various biodiesel ratios will be tested in order to enable the CCG to assess operational feasibility and technological compatibility of higher blend rates across various operational settings. This biodiesel test project will assist in advancing solutions to decrease emissions in the immediate term.

In addition to testing greener fuels, the CCG is preparing for construction of a new hybrid electric Near-Shore Fishery Research Vessel (NSFRV) to reduces consumption of diesel. Following the design and engineering work for a vessel class fitted with a battery energy storage system, the CCG has issued a request for proposal to Canadian shipbuilders to start construction of one vessel. Canadian shipbuilders are welcome to learn more about this opportunity, by visiting the NSFRV Build Request for Proposal on CanadaBuys.

The CCGS Caribou Isle operates out of Ontario and is a five-person crewed ship launched in 1985. It consumes 2,400 litres of fuel per day according to government documents.