COS Weekly Newsletter - Friday, 25 November 2022

Clear Seas partnered with a team at Dalhousie University and the Memorial University of Newfoundland on a multi-part project to help increase knowledge of maritime governance in Canada. The research sought to add clarity around the different pillars of maritime governance and to analyze drivers of change in the existing system. The study sorts through the conventions, laws, and codes that apply to shipping and how they impact marine trade in Canada and around the world. This detailed overview of maritime governance and its dynamics will help the public and policymakers to understand what is often a convoluted subject.

Canadian Pacific’s experimental hydrogen-powered locomotive made its maiden revenue run last month in Calgary, Alberta, taking the first step in determining whether the technology could one day replace diesel-electric locomotives. The Oct. 28 revenue test run was the second main line foray this year for the unit, which uses hydrogen fuel cells and batteries to power its electric traction motors. Dubbed CP 1001, the locomotive pulled seven freight cars from a customer facility.  By the end of next year, CP expects to have the three locomotives switching customers in Calgary, Edmonton, and Vancouver.

The Baffinland Iron Mines' expansion project for the Mary River mine site in Nunavut will not be going ahead for the foreseeable future as the federal government has given a final thumbs-down to the proposal that would have seen annual shipping output double to 12 million tonnes of ore. The project included the construction of a new 110-kilometre railway to the Milne Inlet port. The Nunavut Impact Review Board (NIRB) recommended that the project not be allowed to proceed on the basis that the expansion has the potential for "significant adverse ecosystemic effects" on marine mammals, fish, caribou and other wildlife, which in turn could harm Inuit culture, land use and food security.  Six months following the NIRB decision, Northern Affairs Minister Dan Vandal concluded that significant adverse effects from the expansion could not be adequately "prevented, mitigated, or adaptively managed under the proposed mitigations."

The Port of Nanaimo and Nanaimo WorkBC Centre have announced that the 4th annual Port Connect event will happen on December 1st at Western Canada Marine Response Corporation's new premises.  Port Connect brings together key companies and associations from the marine sector in the Central Vancouver Island Region and provides an opportunity for those considering a career in the sector to meet industry leaders and for others to gain valuable contacts.  This year's exhibitors include: BC Ferries, DP World, Herold Engineering, Gowland Towing, Tetra Tech, Vancouver Island Pile Driving, Vancouver Island Ferry Corporation, Western Canada Marine Response Corporation, Port of Nanaimo, GRT Soil Processing, Petroglyph Development Group, Western Maritime Institute, WorkBC Centre – Nanaimo, Canada Border Services Agency, Vancouver Island Whale Watch, Seamor Marine, and the Canadian Coast Guard.

Vancouver Island Ferry Company expects that next summer travellers will be able to catch a fast ferry between the Port of Nanaimo’s cruise ship terminal and the Vancouver Harbour Flight Centre in downtown Vancouver. Two high-speed catamaran vessels being built by the Netherland’s Damen Group  will hold more than 350 passengers in three classes of seating, referred to as business, premium and comfort class. Sailing schedules are also yet to be determined, but sailings will be early enough for commuters and late enough to come home after sporting events or concerts.  The Port of Nanaimo, Snuneymuxw First Nation and Conqora announced a long-term lease agreement a little over a year ago. The Nanaimo-based Vancouver Island Ferry Company has since been set up and its website, vifc.com, is now live.

Former CSL President and CEO, and current Board member, Rod Jones, was honoured with a Lifetime Achievement Award this week at the International Bulk Journal Awards in Rotterdam. Mr. Jones was recognized for his important contribution to the marine industry and for his inclusive, accessible leadership style, solid ethics and values around diversity, safety and the environment. Mr. Jones has devoted his entire professional life to the shipping world. His early shore-side shipping career took him through various roles at Navios Corporation and Van Ommeren Shipping. In 1985, he joined Canada Steamship Lines as Marketing Director and eventually became President of CSL International in the early 1990s, and then President and CEO of The CSL Group in 2008 until his retirement in 2017.

During his tenure at CSL, Mr. Jones transformed the Great Lakes-focused business into the largest owner and operator of self-unloading ships in the world. Under his leadership, CSL has expanded far beyond Canada and the Americas to Australia, Asia and Europe.

The Government of Canada has released Canada National Adaptation Strategy: Building Resilient Communities and a Strong Economy for engagement and final consultations. The release comes with $1.6 billion in new federal funding commitments to help protect communities from coast to coast to coast. Funding will help municipalities and townships build public infrastructures of the future, such as roads and bridges, that can withstand flooding, make sure Canadians have access to the information they need to stay safe during wildfires, and enable engagement and work with Indigenous communities on the development of region-specific health initiatives linked to changing climate conditions. The additional funding builds on existing federal commitments to adaptation, disaster resilience, and disaster response that total more than $8 billion to date

Transport Canada’s Clean Marine R&D Group has posted a request for proposals (RFP) for the demonstration of Biofuels for Marine Vessels. The objective of the RFP is to solicit marine demonstration projects that will advance and demonstrate the technological and/or commercial readiness of biofuels for Canada’s domestic vessels and help identify regulatory and technical barriers to the adoption of biofuels for Canada’s domestic fleet, including associated fuel infrastructure, and recommend potential mitigations/solutions.  The deadline for application is February 15, 2023.

On Monday this week, one of the biggest rail unions joined three other unions that have rejected the deal facilitated by the Presidential Emergency Board.  Train conductors represented by the Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers-Transportation Division, or SMART-TD, narrowly rejected the proposed deal. The vote drew record turnout among the union’s membership of more than 28,000 conductors and other workers. SMART-TD is one of four freight rail unions that have rejected the deal, while eight other unions have approved it. This raises the risk of a strike, which could start as soon as Dec. 9 under a deadline that was pushed back Tuesday.  The dependence on the already-suffering rail system would be tested, especially with other circumstances affecting the supply chain, like a Mississippi River drought affecting much of the midwest. United States Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg said the Biden administration’s goal is to make sure a strike doesn’t happen.

 

Container lines are set to cancel a record number of sailings in the run-up to Christmas, to try to shore up sliding freight rates.  The unrelenting decline in container freight rates from Asia, caused by a collapse in demand, is compelling ocean carriers to blank more sailings than ever before as vessel utilization hits new lows. Carriers are expected to blank two-thirds of sailings on the transatlantic and more than half on the transpacific in the pre-Christmas period. According to Drewry’s cancelled sailings tracker, the alliances are preparing to blank as many as 62 voyages from Asia to the US between weeks 48 and 52.

Meanwhile, the South Korean government has announced that it will establish a $2.2 billion fund to help support the country's container lines amid the downturn in shipping markets. Details were revealed last week at a meeting between 10 shipping companies, including HMM and Heung-A Shipping, and officials at South Korea’s Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries. The aim is to prevent another collapse similar to the demise of Hanjin Shipping in 2016-17.  Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Minister Cho Seung-hwan indicated South Korean shipping companies were generally loss-making between 2016 and 2020 and only returned to profit in 2021. He said freight rates have already fallen by 67 percent this year and carriers’ cash reserves “will inevitably decrease as freight rates fall.”

On November 7th the MV Fengtien responded to a call for assistance at Port Kembla anchorage in Australia and launched the rescue boat to rescue two persons who had fallen overboard a pleasure craft. They received a commendation from the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) for the swift action that prevented a potential loss of life.

The MV Fengtien was built in 2015 and is the Dry bulk / Handysize segment. Its IMO number is 9690896 and the current MMSI number is 566288000. The vessel has callsign 9V2174. Summer deadweight is 39782 DWT. FENGTIEN is sailing under the flag of Singapore.  She is owned and operated by Swire Bulk, whose parent company The China Navigation Company marked its 150th anniversary this year.