COS Weekly Newsletter - Friday, 3 February 2023

We are excited to advise that our leadership transition is underway. Earlier this week the Board of Directors announced to the membership that Bonnie Gee will be stepping into the President's role in March following Robert Lewis-Manning's departure in March.  An organizational review is underway and formal announcement of the new leadership team will be issued soon. Robert, who has served as President with the Chamber of Shipping for the last seven years, will be joining the Greater Victoria Harbour Authority as the new CEO, replacing Ian Robertson who has served in the role for nearly eight years.

Ocean Group is adding a new tug to its fleet in British Columbia. The Ocean Cypress is a 28-metre vessel built by Damen at the Damen SongCam shipyard in Haipong, Vietnam. She has the same technical specifications as the Ocean Granville and the Ocean Kitsilano. The vessel will be based mainly in North Vancouver for the next few months, but will also be able to support operations in other locations, including Delta Port and the Fraser River. Ocean Group has been offering towing services in the Vancouver area since 2020 and in 2021 acquired Samson Tugboat, which offers port towing services in the Fraser River. The Ocean Group fleet now consists of nine (9) tugs.

A ruling by the US Surface Transportation Board (STB) is expected sometime this quarter on the proposed merger between Canadian Pacific Railway (CP) and Kansas City Southern (KCS). This is the final hurdle CP must clear in its bid to purchase KCS for US$31 billion — a deal which would create the only single-line railroad linking the United States, Mexico and Canada. If the merger is approved, Calgary will serve as global headquarters for CPKC.  CP has been growing its workforce over the last year possibly in anticipation of a favourable decision. Despite a historically tight labour market, more than 1,600 conductors were hired in 2022. 

The Nanaimo Port Authority has published its proposed tariff increase effective April 1, 2023.  The proposal includes a 5% increase to harbour dues, wharfage and berthage fees. Details on the fee proposal can be found on the NPA website.

At the opening of IMPAC5 in Vancouver today, the Minister of Environment and Climate Change announced a new policy to guide the establishment and management of national marine conservation areas (NMCAs) to help advance the  Government of Canada's goal to create 10 new NMCAs to achieve its target of protecting 30 percent of lands and water by 2030.  The new NMCA Policy Framework emphasizes the importance of collaboration and co-management with Indigenous peoples and sets direction for all current and future NMCAs. The new Policy articulates eight interconnected, mutually reinforcing management goals for the NMCA program.  The new policy is intended to bring clarity on the management of NMCAs, along with a new zoning framework that is more responsive to both protection and ecologically sustainable use objectives. It identifies a suite of management tools for NMCAs, including regulatory tools to be developed under the Canada National Marine Conservation Areas Act.

Transportation officials representing trucking, rail and seaports took aim at priorities touted by Democrats over the past two years — including the $1.2 trillion Infrastructure, Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) — at the opening hearing of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee on Wednesday. Issues raised centred on the lack of strategic infrastructure funding and inflation and its effect on fuel prices and the industry representatives urged that the money from IIJA is spent on making the nation's transportation supply chain more efficient and resilient.

From 1 January 2024 it will be compulsory for ports around the world to operate Maritime Single Windows (MSWs) for the electronic exchange of information required on ships’ arrival at a port, their stay and their departure. This mandatory change follows the adoption by IMO's Facilitation Committee of amendments to the FAL Convention.  IMO hosted "Maritime Single Window 2024 – A window of opportunities", a two-day Symposium in January that was supported by international organizations and experts across the shipping and ports sectors. Participants explored how maritime single windows can achieve maritime trade facilitation and support decarbonization efforts. Many agree that technology is available and that cultural change is hindering progress.  Maritime stakeholders, including governments, should see this an opportunity and move away from seeing it as a compliance issue.

Asian nations counting on offshore wind farms to meet clean energy goals are facing an increasing shortage of ships for installing massive turbines in the sea. As countries embark on a rapid build-out of wind power in the next decade, builders are having difficulty keeping up with the demand.  The situation is only going to get worse as blades get longer and require bigger ships to handle them. Excluding China, there are currently only about 10 turbine installing ships and a few dozen commissioning service operation vessels (CSOVs ) operating worldwide, according to shipbroker Clarksons. By 2030, demand for turbine installers will outpace supply by about 15 vessels, while the gap for CSOVs will widen to more than 145 CSOVs from 30 currently, it estimates.

The CMA CGM Group will make its expertise available to Paris 2024, by handling the transport and logistics for all the goods, equipment, and materials required for the event’s success at the Olympic and Paralympic venues.  The company will organize all the international transport and customs brokerage activities and provide and operate the requisite logistics facilities for Paris 2024 via its CEVA and CMA CGM Air cargo subsidiaries. Moreover, the French shipping line will operate road and river transport and logistics services at Olympic and Paralympic Games venues, in metropolitan France and French overseas territories.

The MV Forte is a semi-submersible heavy-lift vessel operated by Boskalis and transporting huge processing modules for LNG Canada in Kitimat.

In 2019 Boskalis announced plans to convert the MV Forte into a crane vessel capable of lifting 4000 tonnes. The decision to go ahead with the conversion follows a new contract for the Taiwanese Changfang and Xidao offshore wind farm project owned by Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners. The MV Forte will have installed a 4000-tonne revolving crane capable of lifting structures more than 100 metres high. It will boast 7500 square metres of free deck space. Once completed, it will be renamed Bokalift 2.

Flag: Malta
Built by: Guangzhou Shipyard Int. Co.
LOA: 216.75 m
Breadth: 43 m
Depth: 13 m
Deck space: 177.60 x 43 m
Deadweight: 50,000 t