The European Commission is in a race against time to help shift Ukraine’s grain by end of July to meet demand and free up silo capacity for the next harvest. 75 percent of Ukraine’s grain production is exported and accounts for approximately 20 percent of the country’s export revenue. The European Commission is stepping with...Read More
The maritime industry’s most anticipated annual report on incidents and casualties, Allianz’s Safety & Shipping Review 2022, is out with a special supplemental section dedicated to the Ukraine war. The report identifies cargo fires as a priority concern. There have been over 70 reported fires on container ships alone in the past five years, the report...Read More
Maersk is redeploying two 3,600teu ice-class 1A vessels, Vistula Maersk and Vayenga Maersk, to the Canada Atlantic Express service between Canada and Northern Europe. (North Europe to/from Canada) replacing existing vessels. The ice-class vessels’ propeller and rudder design has been optimized for the lowest fuel consumption. The vessels will utilize biofuel, which is carbon neutral...Read More
The International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) and the Suez Canal Authority (SCA) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) covering key issues impacting international ship owners and operations of the Suez Canal. The year-long commitment will increase information sharing and negotiations on the movement of global trade through the Canal. It will open communication on...Read More
The full repatriation of over 600 i-Kiribati seafarers to Tarawa, capital of the Republic of Kiribati, has been completed. This week, six seafarers arrived in Tarawa, marking the end of a two-year period of repatriation blighted by pandemic-related restrictions and delays. The repatriation was led by a coalition of employers, unions and NGOs, in tandem...Read More
The US Department of Transportation added $234.3 million to its previously announced $450 million this year for port infrastructure investments through the Maritime Administration’s (MARAD) Port Infrastructure Development Program. The $684.3 million is the highest level of funding ever made available for the program. The grants which are awarded on a competitive basis go to...Read More
With the low volume of exports out of China due to the continuation of COVID restrictions, major ocean carrier alliances have announced cancellations of at least a third of their scheduled sailings out of Asia through early June, affecting Asia-Europe services more than transpacific. Asia – US West Coast rates fell 3% this week while...Read More
SAAM Towage welcomes the SAAM James Point, to Vancouver after completing its loading operation onto the cargo ship BBC Moonstone in Halong Bay, Vietnam. The new Damen 2312 tug is named after respected Musqueam Point Family Patriarch, James Point. Born shortly after confederation, he was a fisherman, who worked the Fraser River, and up and...Read More
According to several trade publications, diesel supplies on the US East Coast are now the lowest in almost 20 years and some are saying that diesel is now surpassing labour as the industry’s No. 1 expense. Reduced diesel supplies out of Russia combined with a loss of US refining capacity could have a devastating impact...Read More
Parkland Corporation has announced plans to increase renewable fuel production at its Burnaby Refinery as part of its commercial decarbonization strategy, enabling the supply of low carbon products and services. Plans include expanding existing co-processing volumes to approximately 5,500 barrels per day, and a new stand-alone renewable diesel complex capable of producing approximately 6,500 barrels...Read More
The Canadian Food Inspection Canada has released recent findings from an expert panel on plant health risks in Canada. Plants are critical to Canada as agriculture and forestry account for 500,000 jobs and over $90 billion in annual exports. Plants face many threats, such as rising temperatures, changing precipitation patterns, extreme weather events, disease, and...Read More
India is planning to reopen more than 100 coal mines previously considered financially unsustainable. India is facing its worst power crisis in over six years, and officials have been scrambling to arrange supply for power plants whose pre-summer inventories are at over nine-year lows with power demand set to rise at the fastest pace in...Read More
From May 5th monitoring for Southern Resident Killer Whales will begin in the southern Gulf Islands. Similar to last year, salmon fishing closures in the southern Gulf Islands (a key foraging area for Southern Resident Killer Whales) will close once Southern Resident Killer Whales are confirmed in the area. Once detected, recreational and commercial salmon fishing...Read More
The Minister of Transport, the Honourable Omar Alghabra, announced proposed amendments to the Transportation Information Regulations to collect new freight rail information to enhance the transparency and competitiveness of the freight rail system. The amendments would require class 1 rail carriers to report to Transport Canada on waybill, traffic, and service and performance information, for the...Read More
The International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) advises that 500 seafarers remain onboard 109 vessels stranded in Ukraine ports or nearby seas and calls for the preservation of humanitarian corridors. Approximately 1,500 seafarers have been evacuated from stranded vessels via humanitarian corridors that included flights and buses from ports, organized by maritime labour supply states of...Read More
Enbridge and Humble plan to develop a utility-scale ultra-low carbon production facility, capable of supplying both low-carbon hydrogen and ammonia. The facility will be located at the Enbridge Ingleside Energy Center (EIEC) near Corpus Christi, Texas. Moreover, up to 95 percent of the CO2 from the production process will be sequestered in a new carbon...Read More
This week Pacific Maritime Association (PMA) released its study on “Terminal Automation in Southern California: Implications for Growth, Jobs, and the Future Competitiveness of West Coast Ports.” The timing of the release ahead of contract negotiations between dockworkers and employers on the US west coast scheduled to start on May 12th has been criticized by...Read More
The Chamber of Shipping was pleased to sponsor the Vancouver Maritime Centre for Climate’s first anniversary yesterday hosted by co-founders Elisabeth Charmley and Bryan Buggey. Joining the celebration was BC Minister of Jobs, Economic Recovery and Innovation, Hon. Ravi Kahlon along with ship owners, port and terminal operators, energy providers, local and international blue-tech suppliers,...Read More
The Port of Prince Rupert is adding 16 new vessel calls to its upcoming cruise schedule that has the potential to bring upwards of 46,000 additional cruise passengers – about a 330% increase from the previously published schedule – to the community this spring and summer. The Ruby Princess, operated by Princess Cruises, will make...Read More
The three global ocean carrier alliances (2M, OCEAN, and THE) and each of their member companies will now be required to provide enhanced pricing and capacity information, providing the Federal Maritime Commission with uniform data to use in assessing ocean carrier behavior and marketplace competitiveness. The newly mandated information will provide the Commission’s Bureau of...Read More
Canadian Pacific (CP) has just published its 2021 corporate sustainability data supplement covering sustainability metrics and performance in the areas of safety, operational excellence, and social impact. As part of its Climate Strategy aimed at science-based emissions reduction targets, in 2021 CP achieved a 44 percent improvement in locomotive fuel efficiency compared to 1990. Last...Read More
Transport Canada has updated the Ship Safety Bulletin No. 17/21 : Measures for Persons (other than passengers) on Canadian Vessels and Foreign Passenger Vessels Operation in Canadian Waters to Mitigate the Spread of COVID-19 (modified April 26, 2022) and Updates to Ship Safety Bulletin No. 18/21: Measures to Support Safe Cruise Travel in Canada (modified...Read More
On March 17, 2022, the Government of Canada issued a call to all employers who wish to support Ukrainians with offers of employment to register these offers on Job Bank’s Jobs for Ukraine webpage. On Jobs for Ukraine, employers can create a job posting and let Job Bank know it is for Ukraine. These jobs will...Read More
Hapag-Lloyd will equip its entire container fleet with real-time tracking devices. After successfully introducing real-time monitoring for its reefer container fleet in 2019 with the IoT product Hapag-Lloyd LIVE, the company will start to install newly developed devices to all standard containers of its three million TEU fleet. Hapag-Lloyd continues to further digitalize container shipping...Read More
The US Coast Guard has released its 2021 annual report on Port State Control. Flag Administration performance for 2021 dropped slightly with the overall annual detention rate decreasing from 0.77% to 0.73%. Additionally, the three-year rolling detention ratio decreased from 1.02% to 0.87%. Barbados, Cook Islands, Liberia, Malta, and the Philippines were removed from the...Read More
China’s Covid lockdowns are worsening congestion at Chinese ports, resulting in carriers suspending their services and cancelling bookings for cargo exported to China. Over-the road and intermodal shipments from Shanghai are reported to be down by 41 percent, while deliveries dropped by 72 percent over the last month. Four Kites data shows strong ocean cargo...Read More
Canadian Pacific and Hapag-Lloyd AG will be adding a call into Port Saint John, N.B., via a seasonal extra loader in another step forward for the growing Atlantic Canada port. This additional call follows their inaugural service call into Port Saint John in May 2021, connecting via CP rail service to inland markets in Canada and the United States. CP...Read More
According to the results of a new study from IBM (NYSE: IBM) and Celonis on supply chain resiliency, Chief Supply Chain Officers (CSCOs) recognize the critical role that hybrid cloud, AI, process mining and execution management play in helping them overcome the disruptions they’ve faced over the last two years. In fact, 72% of CSCOs...Read More
Swire Shipping Pte Ltd, a leading operator of liner shipping services in the Asia-Pacific and around the globe, announced that its affiliate, SSPL US Inc., has signed a definitive agreement to acquire US-based Westwood Shipping Lines Inc., from J-WeSco Ltd, a subsidiary of The Sumitomo Warehouse Co. Ltd. The acquisition complements Swire Shipping’s growth strategy...Read More
Ridley Terminals is rebranding to a new name and identity to reflect the company’s transformation that began in late 2021. The new name, Trigon Pacific Terminals Limited (Trigon) is inspired by Coast Tsimshian artistic traditions and Indigenous ownership and reflects the significant recent and future planned changes at the terminal, and its accelerating progression towards...Read More
The extensive construction work in the North Sea has been completed and this weekend there was a “hole through” from the Norwegian gas pipeline Europipe II. The gas can flow through the over 120-kilometer-long new gas pipe which is connected to Europipe II and led all the way to the receiving terminal in Nybro by...Read More
From April 29 until May 1, the Royal Canadian Navy will be two Halifax-class vessels (Frigates), two Kingston-class vessels (MCDVs), three Orca-class vessels, the Fleet Diving Unit (Pacific) Bomb Truck, and the Naval Tactical Operations Group (NTOG) personnel stationed at the Burrard Dry Dock Pier in North Vancouver. Displays and other activities will be open...Read More
Supplies of a vital ship fuel are running low in northwest Europe as the fallout from Russia’s war in Ukraine continues to upend oil markets. Adding to the shortage is the planned seasonal maintenance happening at many European refineries. The cost of low-sulfur marine gasoil has surged in Antwerp in recent weeks. The price has...Read More
The Government of Canada is creating the Canada Growth Fund which will be a new public investment vehicle that will operate at arms-length from the federal government. The fund will initially be capitalized at $15 billion over the next five years to attract substantial private sector investment to help meet important national economic policy goals....Read More
The Prince Rupert Port Authority (PRPA) announced that four companies are being honoured for their outstanding participation in its Green Wave environmental incentive program for their 2021 performance. They include intermodal shipping companies COSCO Shipping Lines and MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company, liquefied gas shipping company Navigator Gas LLC, and BC Ferries. Commercial vessels are scored...Read More
According to new research from Freightos, 73% of liner carriers surveyed offer online quoting capability, compared to 20% in 2019 when the first study on digital connectivity was held. The survey research was based on a survey of 7 of the top 11 ocean carriers and 24 air cargo carriers. In addition, carriers were nearly...Read More
Transport Canada has released a Ship Safety Bulletin No.: 10/2022 to enforce Canadian discharge requirements for cruise ships operating in waters under Canadian jurisdiction in 2022. The bulletin applies to the authorized representatives of cruise ships certified to carry more than 100 people and equipped with overnight accommodations. In addition, the authorized representative of a...Read More
Negotiations on a new contract between the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) and the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA) are set to begin in May, prior to the expiration of the existing agreement on June 30. The ILWU in this negotiation represents approximately 14,000 port workers in California, Oregon, and Washington, with more than 40...Read More
The California Inland Port (CIP) project, a $30 billion, 400-mile trade corridor that will stretch from the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach to Sacramento continues planning for four major inland hub ports and seven smaller satellite ports that would relieve congestion at the seaports while increasing cargo velocity to and from California’s container...Read More
Border crossings between the US and Mexico were disrupted last week amid growing frustration due to extra inspections of commercial trucks ordered by the governor of Texas. On April 6th Governor Greg Abbott ordered officials to conduct vehicle safety inspections at entry ports to uncover the smuggling of people and contraband. Mexican truckers blocked the...Read More
Construction on the Trans Mountain Expansion Project has reached a major milestone with more than 50 per cent completion as of March 2022. The halfway mark of construction for the Expansion Project includes more than 412 kilometres of pipe in the ground, 574 kilometres of the pipeline right-of-way stripped and graded, 471 kilometres of pipe...Read More
Last week a Celebration of Life was held for Murray Mather who passed away last month following his ongoing battle with cancer. Murray started his career in the shipping industry in 1987 with North Pacific Shipping. Since then he worked as a shipping agent at Bulk Export Services, Pacific Northwest Ship & Cargo, and then...Read More
Jason Klein replaces Peter Zebedee as the new chief executive officer at LNG Canada during the B.C. project’s peak construction phase. Mr. Zebedee stepped down in late March as CEO and joined Suncor Energy Inc. this week as executive vice-president of mining and upgrading in Alberta. The appointment of Mr. Klein makes him the third...Read More
The 1,036-TEU container ship ElbBLUE, former “Wes Amelie” has reduced its greenhouse gas emissions by 27% by operating on a blend of climate-neutral, synthetic natural gas (SNG) and conventional liquefied natural gas (LNG). In the case of the ElbBLUE, nitrogen oxide emissions (NOx) dropped by almost 87%, while emissions of sulphur oxides (SOx) and particulates...Read More
Transport Canada has released an update (SSB 09/22) to its Ship Safety Bulletin respecting the speed restriction zones that vessels must follow in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Changes to the speed restriction zones will be effective from April 20 to November 15, 2022, while the restricted area will be implemented based on whale presence...Read More
The Port of Vancouver welcomed the Koningsdam on April 10, 2022, after almost 900 days without ships arrival in Canada’s largest port. The Canadian Transport Minister, Omar Alghabra released new health and safety guidelines mirroring measures implemented in the U.S. by the CDC. The cruise industry is essential for Canada’s economy. According to the Tourism...Read More
IMO is adding e-learning to its portfolio of services. The first free to access course was launched during an online event (7 April), in the margin of its Pollution Prevention and Response (PPR) Sub-Committee meeting. IMO has developed a number of e-Learning courses with the purpose of increasing the capacity of Member States to effectively...Read More
Canada’s Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault formally approved on Wednesday the Bay du Nord offshore oil project, providing a positive shot in the arm for Newfoundland and Labrador, and for the region’s workers, families and communities. Following a thorough and science-based environmental assessment conducted by the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada (the Agency) over four years, the approval follows conclusions...Read More
SAAM Towage Canada has just acquired Standard Towing Ltd. and Davies Tugboat Ltd. Both companies provide harbour, shipdocking and towage services on the West Coast of Canada. The acquisition contributes to SAAM Towage’s drive to continue to consolidate its leadership position on the West Coast. Through these acquisitions, adds three Canadian-built tugboats to the fleet...Read More
PSA International Pte Ltd (“PSA”) and Halifax Port Authority are pleased to announce PSA’s acquisition of Ceres Halifax Inc. from Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha. PSA Halifax will now operate two container terminals in Halifax, namely Atlantic Hub and Fairview Cove, jointly branded under PSA Halifax. PSA Halifax’s Atlantic Hub terminal is located at the south...Read More
