COS Weekly Newsletter - Friday, 27 January 2023

On January 23, 2023 the Minister of Environment and Climate Change determined that the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority has provided sufficient detail in response to questions posed in the August 2020 information request regarding effects of the Roberts Bank Terminal 2 Project on fish habitat, salinity, and Indigenous people in sufficient detail. The federal timeline for decision-making has resumed.

Tidewater Container Services Inc. has released the 2023 Tsawwassen Container Examination Facility (TCEF) Tariff and Fee Schedule for Marine Container Examination Services (MCEF).  This is the first fee structure adjustment since the start up of operations in 2019 and reflect actual operational and labour costs increases experienced year over year for the past 3 years associated directly to the container examination process. The new fees outlined go into effect March 1, 2023.

Canada Border Services Agency has released a long-awaited update to its Memorandum D3-5-1 - Marine Pre-load/Pre-arrival and Reporting Requirements.  Among other revisions, the new Memorandum incorporates policy decisions that have been made over recent years with respect to vessels arriving at anchorages and the reporting practices in place.

On January 19 the Government of Canada launched an online survey was launched to seek feedback on the potential management measures to help the recovery of the Southern Resident Killer Whales. Your ideas and feedback will help refine the potential management measures and provide an understanding of potential implications of the options being considered. The public survey is available on the Fisheries and Oceans Canada website until February 19, 2023. Please use this link to access the survey.

The first annual report from the Net-Zero Advisory Body, an independent group of nine experts from across Canada with a range of experience and expertise, was released by the Minister of Environment and Climate Change Canada. Following the Body's substantive submission to the Government’s 2030 Emissions Reduction Plan last March, they have been engaging with governments, Indigenous peoples, youth, businesses, environmental groups, and other interested Canadians to develop advice and, in accordance with the Canadian Net-Zero Emissions Accountability Act. The Net-Zero Advisory Body’s 2022 Annual Report contains 25 pieces of advice that encourage collective commitment and shared leadership. Fostering and securing widespread commitment to net-zero should be a priority of all governments in the first half of the current decade.

Canada's Energy Innovation Program has opened its intake for expressions of interest for carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS) research, development and demonstration (RD&D) projects and related science activities focused on carbon storage and transportation. Funded under the Energy Innovation Program, RD&D projects and related science activities selected through this intake will help develop permanent geological storage of carbon and technologies that support the safe and efficient transportation of CO2.  The intake for expressions of interest for storage and transportation RD&D projects and related science activities will remain open until April 17, 2023. Successful applicants will then be invited to submit a full project proposal.

On February 14th California Air Resources Board (CARB) staff will hold a virtual workshop to discuss the findings and recommendations included in the Interim Evaluation Report (“Report”) that was released to the public on December 1, 2022. The Report is designed to provide an implementation status update for the Control Measure for Ocean-Going Vessels (OGVs) At Berth (2020 At Berth Regulation) which was approved by CARB in August 2020. The virtual workshop is open to the public and participation by all parties is encouraged.

The International Maritime Organization (IMO) is moving forward with revisions to the 2014 guidelines for commercial ships in order to reduce underwater noise that threatens some marine species. The draft revisions, which still need to be approved by the IMO’s Marine Environment Protection Committee this summer. The revised guidelines detail best practices for commercial ships to reduce noise, including optimizing propeller and hull design, reducing speed, adjusting routes to minimize travel through sensitive areas and proper maintenance. While they apply to global shipping, the revisions note the potential for noise-sensitive species in the Arctic to be affected, along with the Inuit who live there.

The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has published, for consultation, its proposed recommendations to the Secretary of State on its Consortia Block Exemption Regulation (CBER) for shipping retained from the EU. Industry views on a UK shipping line alliance regulation are due by February 23rd. The CMA’s proposed recommendation to the secretary of state is to replace the CBER, when it expires on 25 April 2024, with a Liner Shipping Consortia Block Exemption Order (CBEO) tailored to the needs of businesses operating in the UK and UK consumers.

Over its nearly 120-year history Maersk has made many acquisitions that operate under different brand names due to differentiated business models. These include APM Terminals, Maersk Container Industry (MCI), Svitzer, Maersk Supply Service (MSS), Maersk Training, and Maersk Line Limited (MLL). Maersk has announced its intent to begin moving the companies to one unified Maersk brand, signalling a truly integrated logistics to its customers.

A research-based icebreaker, the RV Polarstern was first commissioned in 1982 and has been underway in the Arctic and Antarctic for 40 years now, giving experts from around the globe the opportunity to safely and effectively conduct research in two of the most extreme regions on our planet. Primarily used by the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research in Bremerhaven, she has a double-hull design and a length of 387 feet (118 meters).

The RV Polarstern is powered by four engines, each producing 20,000 HP and enabling the ship to reach 16 knots in open water. She can operate in temperatures as low as -58 degrees Fahrenheit (-50 degrees Celsius) and is capable of breaking through 5-foot (1.5 meters) thick ice.