COS Weekly Newsletter - Friday, 21 October 2022

On Friday, October 14^th, Seaspan Marine Transportation and its members of the Canadian Merchant Service Guild (CMSG) reached a tentative deal to end the seven-week strike by the workforce associated with Seaspan’s ship assist and tug & barge portions of the business.  The deal will be voted on by CMSG membership in the coming weeks.  Picket lines at Seaspan’s North Vancouver offices and shipyard locations have been removed, allowing the company’s 1,000 shipyard employees to return to work and its tug and barge operations to re-start operations in a safe and orderly manner. CMSG members represent 165 of Seaspan Marine Transportation’s tugboat captains and engineers; talks with the ILWU 200, representing the deckhands, are progressing.

Seaspan’s Vancouver Shipyards (VSY) has been awarded a long-term contract with the Canadian Coast Guard to support the engineering work needed as part of maintaining the Coast Guard’s current fleet of vessels. The engineering support services contract is for up to nine years with an initial three-year period and the option for up to three, two-year renewals. Seaspan and our engineering partners will provide integrated naval architecture, marine/mechanical and electrical engineering services, which speaks to both the complex nature of the work required and Seaspan’s demonstrated capabilities. Apart from our engineering expertise, Vancouver Shipyards also brings deep knowledge of the vessels that it has and will design for the Coast Guard.  This knowledge is primarily captured in detailed 3-D models or “digital twins” that can be leveraged to make the maintenance period more cost-effective and efficient for the Coast Guard.

The Prince Rupert Port Authority has provided notice of the proposed tariff revisions effective January 1, 2023.  These include a 5.86% increase in harbour dues and 11.15% increase to all container wharfage fees and an increase of 5.86% to all other cargoes not otherwise specified.  The tariff also removes the Fairview Connector Road Fee following industry feedback.  Comments on the proposed tariff amendments may be forward in writing to the port authority.

It is with deep sadness that we announce Brian Cornwall’s passing at the age of 81. He was born in Vancouver and was a well-respected member of the Vancouver shipping community with International Chartering Services.  A Celebration of Life has been arranged for Friday November 4^th, 2:00 p.m., open house style, at Capilano Rugby Club 1910 Glenaire Dr, North Vancouver.

The Minister of Labour, Seamus O’Regan Jr., has launched consultations on the federal government's plan to introduce legislation by the end of 2023 to prohibit the use of replacement workers in federally regulated workplaces during a strike or lockout. This will make sure that all workers in federally regulated sectors continue to benefit from a meaningful right to strike.  Consultations will also seek input on mproving the maintenance of activities process. By improving this process, the intention is to limit interruptions and protect collective bargaining while continuing to protect Canadians during a work stoppage. However, the Government is not looking to expand the types of services that need to be maintained during a strike or lockout. Interested parties are invited to share their feedback by December 16, 2022. Following the consultation period, the feedback received will inform the development of legislation.

The Final Report of the National Supply Chain Task Force provides advice and recommendations about how all levels of government and industry can increase competition, access, reliability, resiliency, redundancy, efficiency, and investment in the national transportation system and supply chain. Transport Canada understands that supply chain issues have wide-ranging impacts and is inviting input on issues raised in the report by November 15, 2022 via the webportal or by email.

The Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes Division (BMWED) announced last week that its rank-and-file membership had rejected a tentative labour deal reached in September, setting the stage for a possible strike as soon as Nov. 19 if a new deal cannot be reached.  Six of the 12 railroad unions that represent 115,000 workers nationwide have approved their tentative agreements with the railroads so far, but all of them have to ratify their contracts to avoid a strike. The unions have agreed to put any strike on hold until at least mid-November while the BMWED negotiates a new deal and the other unions vote on their proposed contracts.

The queue of ships waiting to unload at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach fell from a peak of 109 ships in January to four vessels this week, according to the Marine Exchange of Southern California. Shipping specialists say fewer ships than normal are heading to the main US gateway complex for imports from Asia in coming days and that cargo volumes that had long swamped the ports now are receding. Bottlenecks continue to delay cargo at other major US seaports and at inland freight hubs, but the end of the backup at the big ports in California signals broader supply-chain tangles that have been troubling retailers and manufacturers are unwinding.  Maersk is reporting that the Port of Vancouver now has the longest dwell time among North American ports due to persistent congestion in Toronto and Montreal.

Europe’s lawmakers have voted in favour of a 2% mandate for green shipping fuels by 2030. Transport & Environment (T&E) welcomes the world’s first measure to decarbonize shipping fuels but says much more will be needed to get shipping to zero-emission.  Viewed as a kickstart to the production of hydrogen-based fuels by providing investment certainty to fuel producers, T&E is hoping to raise this mandate to 6% in 2035. The Parliament did not announce a greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction target of 100% in 2050, but did introduce stricter GHG targets that will shorten the lifetime of LNG as a compliance option for ships.  A recent T&E study shows that in 2030 Europe's shipping industry will need over 6.3 million metric tonnes of LNG to power its growing fleet of gas-powered ships which is the equivalent to powering 7 million homes.  This will only increase Europe’s dependence on fossil fuels, says T&E, which has labelled the switch to LNG as irresponsible in times of energy crisis. Preventing the uptake of gas in shipping must happen now, says T&E, before all segments of the maritime industry fall into the gas trap.

Waves Group, Britannia P & I and Lloyd’s have come together to produce simple on-board guidance to assist bridge teams in identifying conditions that may lead to excessive rolling and pitching and loss of containers. For those who are interested, you can view the operational guidance that covers container vessels from 3,000 up to 23,000 TEU in size. You can also find further information on the work.

Orion Leader, a pure car and truck carrier owned by NYK, rescued eight sailors at approximately 0:30 a.m. (local time) on October 6, 2022 from a container ship that had caught fire.   Orion Leader was sailing in the Red Sea from Laem Chabang, Thailand, to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, when she received a distress call concerning a container ship on fire.   The NYK vessel immediately headed to the area and rescued the eight crew members by launching its own lifeboat. Following instructions from the Rescue Coordination Center in Jeddah, Orion Leader then transferred the rescued sailors to the bulk carrier St. Dimitrios, which was also engaged in the rescue operation.

A total of 25 crew were rescued from a 2,000 teu containership TSS Pearl which caught fire in the Red Sea after it sailed from Jeddah on 4 October.