COS Weekly Newsletter - Friday, 18 November 2022

An investment of nearly $75 million under the National Trade Corridors Fund was announced this week to increase capacity at Trigon Pacific Terminals in the Port of Prince Rupert.  The funding will support the construction of a second berth at the Port of Prince Rupert terminal. This second berth will help reduce congestion and increase the port’s capacity to export products for green energy and other clean commodities. With Trigon's contribution, the total combined investment in the project would be $163.1 million.

The Prince Rupert Port Authority (PRPA) has entered into a 10-year terminal operating agreement (TOA) with Global Ports Holding Plc (or GPH) to operate Northland Cruise Terminal, as well as manage the shore excursion program and oversee all cruise scheduling and passenger services at the Port of Prince Rupert. GPH is the world’s largest independent cruise port operator with 26 cruise ports in 14 countries currently under its management. Prince Rupert is the first port in North America in the company’s portfolio and its first foray into the Alaskan market. In 2022, the Port of Prince Rupert welcomed more than 40,000 cruise passengers.

This week a Financial Post article highlighted, "how something as common as rain in Vancouver can send shockwaves through Canada's entire food system," The inability to load grain in the rain is nothing new to those in industry, but it is gaining attention when the supply chain continues to struggle with the demand for rail services and anchorages that are at capacity.

The Minister of Transport, the Honourable Omar Alghabra, announced over $1.2 billion for 29 initiatives as part of the next phase of the Oceans Protection Plan. This investment includes $890.3 million for 19 initiatives to strengthen Canada’s marine safety and prevention response. An investment of $337.3 million will be provided for 10 initiatives to support measures that build partnerships between the Government of Canada and Indigenous and coastal communities to better protect our waters.

The Government of Canada tabled Bill C-33 - Strengthening the Port System and Railway Safety in Canada Act. This legislation amends seven existing laws including the Canada Marine Act, the Customs Act, the Canada Transportation Act, the Railway Safety Act, the Transportation of Dangerous Goods Act, the Marine Transportation Security Act, and the Transportation Appeal Tribunal of Canada Act. The Bill seeks to expand the authority of ports to include vessel traffic and anchorage management and includes provisions to support the Government of Canada's new policy on port investment.

The Standing Committee on Transport, Infrastructure and Communities recently released a report entitled “Improving Efficiency and Resilience in Canada’s Supply Chain.” The report made 43 recommendations aimed at increasing the strength and resilience of regional, national, and global supply chains, including actions to improve supply chain visibility, identify and address bottlenecks, and improve current and future infrastructure.  Many of the recommendations align with the National Supply Task Force Report and it also includes establishing a National Anchorage Strategy that supports Canada's trade ambition and provides surge capacity during supply chain disruptions.

On Monday the national railroad agreement brokered by the White House was rejected by members of the International Brotherhood of Boilermakers (IBB) representing the smallest of the 12 craft unions in the industry. Although with only 500 members, this is the third union consecutively to reject the deal, following workers in the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes (BMWED) and the Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen (BRS) late last month. Momentum is clearly building for the defeat of the deal, with less than a week left in voting by 60,000 engineers and conductors, who have been the center of opposition. Moreover, a strike even by the 500 IBB members would be the equivalent of a national strike of 120,000 railroaders, because workers in other crafts would honor the picket line.

Port of Seattle Executive Director Steve Metruck introduced the Port’s 2023 budget and five-year capital plan proposing historic investments in facilities and organization.  Included in the $5.3 billion plan  Featured in the $5.3 billion plan which includes the airport, are maritime and economic development projects such as berth replacements at Terminal 91, electrification at Pier 66, and the development of new maritime industrial space at Terminal 106 and Terminal 91.  The total capital budget proposed for 2023 is $725.8 million.

The Port will also contribute $276.4 million to the Northwest Seaport Alliance for container terminal modernization and expansion in both harbors such as the completion of Terminal 5, as well as operational upgrades and environmental sustainability projects.  The Ports of Seattle and Tacoma each contribute 50 percent of the costs to fund the NWSA five-year capital improvement plan.

Yesterday Thomas Damsgaard, BIMCO's General Manager for the Americas, announced at the annual Insitute of Chartered Shipbrokers Canada Dry Bulk & Commodities Conference in Vancouver, that BIMCO's Documentary Committee has adopted a CII Operations Clause for Time Charter Parties.  The Carbon Intensity Indicator (CII) Clause will help the industry implement new requirements from the International Maritime Organization that take effect January 1, 2023.  It assumes that a time charterer takes responsibility for a ship’s emissions because the charterer makes the relevant decisions on the operation of the ship.  When entering into the charter party, or incorporating the clause into an existing charter party, the parties are to agree on a specific CII to be achieved each year

The United Nations announced the extension of a deal to ensure exports of grain and fertilizers from Ukraine that were disrupted by the war. The deal was set to expire soon, renewing fears of a global food crisis if exports were blocked from one of the world’s largest grain producers. Russia’s foreign ministry confirmed the extension of the deal for 120 days starting from Nov. 18, without any changes to the current one.

BIMCO has joined the Blue Visby Consortium to support research into practical solutions that help reduce the industry’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.  The Blue Visby Consortium works to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from ships by about 15% through a multilateral platform named the Blue Visby Solution which optimizes ships’ arrival times at their destinations by eradicating the practice of “Sail Fast then Wait”. The solution applies an algorithm to arrival times of groups of ships heading for the same destination, to give an optimal target arrival time for each ship while maintaining the scheduled arrival order. This is done by analyzing a number of parameters, including the performance of each ship together with conditions such as weather and congestion at the destination.

A new Action Plan, launched at COP 27 by UN organizations, shipowners and unions, sets out recommendations to upskill seafarers to meet shipping’s decarbonization goals. The plan is in response to findings from new research, the modeling of which cautions that as many as 800,000 seafarers will require additional training by the mid-2030s. The research was conducted by leading maritime consultancy DNV and commissioned by the Maritime Just Transition Task Force Secretariat. The Action Plan makes recommendations for industry, governments, seafarer unions and academia (including training providers). These recommendations include: Strengthening global training standards, Ensuring a health-and-safety-first approach, and Establishing advisory national maritime skills councils.

November 19th is the last official full-time run for BC Ferries’ Mayne Queen, ending more than half a century of service for residents and visitors of the Southern Gulf Islands. It’s the kind of legacy that deserves a “victory lap” and in true rock star fashion the ship will perform an encore on Sunday, November 20th to its familiar ports of call so the Islanders can say thank you one last time.

The vessel first entered service 57 years ago in 1965 and for the vast majority of that time has served the same run through the Southern Gulf Islands. Insiders know it as Route 5, a tentacular connection between Vancouver Island, Pender, Mayne, Galiano and Saturna islands. Crew are family, quick to jump a car that won’t start or return to work in emergency situations. Urban legend suggests the Mayne Queen may have even reversed course a time or two for a backpack - accidentally left behind by children rushing to school.