Transport Canada has announced that the revised Rules Respecting Key Trains and Key Routes, under the Railway Safety Act, have been approved and now: require railway companies to develop a winter operation plan that is specific to each subdivision where higher risk key trains operate, which must be approved by a professional engineer; require use of...Read More
The Minister of Labour, Filomena Tassi, has issued a statement regarding the collective bargaining negotiations between the Syndicat des débardeurs, the Canadian Union of Public Employees, Local 375 and the Maritime Employers Association. The statement indicates two senior mediators that were recently added to the negotiations concluded after seven days of meetings that the gap...Read More
Through the National Shipbuilding Strategy (NSS), the Government of Canada has taken steps towards construction of an offshore oceanographic science vessel (OOSV). A contract of $453.8 million has been awarded to Seaspan’s Vancouver Shipyards for design to full construction. Construction of the OOSV will begin in spring 2021, with delivery expected in 2024. The OOSV will replace the...Read More
The Government of Canada has announced the 2021 measures to help protect North Atlantic right whales (NARW) from interactions with fishing gear and vessels in Canadian waters. To help prevent entanglements with fishing gear, Fisheries and Oceans Canada is building on last year’s measures by continuing to close fishing areas wherever and whenever North Atlantic...Read More
Three orca pods gathered in the waters off Vancouver Island on Wednesday to celebrate the birth of a new southern resident killer whale (SRKW) calf. Members of the J pod, K pod and L pod were in the waters of the Haro Strait for the calf which marks the fourth calf for 30-year-old L86. The...Read More
This week, the Chamber participated in the 3-day Winter 2021 Oceans Protection Plan Forum. The Chamber’s President joined senior representatives from the Council of the Haida Nation and Transport Canada to speak about the planning, implementation and collaboration associated with the trial Voluntary Protection Zone (VPZ) for shipping. This trial aims to increase the distance...Read More
The crew of an oil tanker beached off UAE, MT Iba, will be repatriated after being abandoned and stranded at sea for four years. Alco Shipping, the owner of the vessel, hit financial problems and stopped paying salaries almost three years ago. The seafarers have been given a settlement for wages owed and they hope to...Read More
Wallenius Wilhelmsen has announced that they will be building, Orcelle Wind, the world’s first full-sized wind-powered pure car and truck carrier (PCTC). The vessel will have the capacity to carry 7,000 vehicles or a mix of cars and heavy machinery, and breakbulk cargo. Orcelle Wind could slash vessel emissions by as much as 90 percent...Read More
Maersk has announced plans to launch the world’s first carbon-neutral liner vessel in 2023, seven years ahead of the initial 2030-ambition. The vessel will be a methanol feeder with a capacity of around 2,000 TEU and it would be deployed in one of Maersk’s intra-regional networks. While the vessel will be able to operate on standard VLSFO,...Read More
The International Maritime Organization (IMO) and the Women’s International Shipping & Trading Association (WISTA International) have launched its first global survey on women in the maritime sector. The survey will inform and support the implementation of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that aim to increase the participation of women in maritime careers and...Read More
Corvus Energy has reached an agreement with Seaspan Ferries Corporation for the first delivery of Corvus’ Blue Whale ESS, to be installed onboard one of their cargo ferries. Blue Whale is a new large-scale energy storage system (ESS)—a groundbreaking battery system designed for large ships with high zero-emission energy demand, such as cruise ships, large...Read More
The Minister of Transport has appointed two directors to the Board of the Port of Nanaimo filling two outstanding vacancies. Jeet Manhas who has served as Past Chair of the port authority as the Provincial representative, is now appointed as the Federal representative for this term. Shiva Dean, who has 15 years of international and...Read More
Royal Canadian Air Force medevaced two injured sailors from a foreign ship last weekend in a mission that lasted several hours. Tasked by the Joint Rescue Co-ordination Centre (JRCC) in Halifax, the Air Force received information mid-last week that there had been an injury on a vessel coming across the Atlantic. The 184-metre oil tanker was...Read More
Ocean Network Express (ONE) containership, MOL Experience, is trialing the use of sustainable marine biofuel as industry seeks to make supply chains more sustainable by reducing carbon emissions in the container shipping segment. The 4,803 TEU-capacity vessel was refueled with the biofuel at the Port of Rotterdam on November 22, 2020. The trial was organized...Read More
The Minister of Transport, the Honourable Omar Alghabra, announced the most recent initiatives to receive funding for the assessment, removal and disposal of abandoned boats in British Columbia and Newfoundland and Labrador. In this round of funding under the Abandoned Boats Program, $1,692,079 is being provided and will support the assessment of 44 boat removal...Read More
About 800 longshoremen from the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach received the first COVID-19 vaccinations for dockworkers last week. The inoculations have brought peace of mind for those who received it, especially considering that many dockworkers jobs require interacting with dozens of people every day. The Long Beach Department of Health and Human...Read More
On February 16th the International Maritime Organization announced that it is making 2021 a year of action for seafarers, who are facing unprecedented hardship due to the COVID-19 pandemic, despite their vital role as key workers for global supply chains. The World Maritime Theme for 2021, “Seafarers: at the core of shipping’s future” seeks to...Read More
Western Group and BST Transportation Group (BST) have announced that Western has acquired BST’s warehousing and transload business located in Richmond, BC., effective February 16th, 2021. The acquisition serves as the foundation for Western’s newest wholly owned subsidiary, Interhold Distribution Ltd. (Interhold).Read More
Haifa, Israel, headquartered ZIM Integrated Shipping Services Ltd. (NYSE: ZIM) has entered a 12-year agreement with Seaspan Corporation to charter in ten 15,000 TEU LNG dual-fuel newbuilds from Seaspan Corporation. Seaspan has ordered the vessels at South Korea’s Samsung Heavy Industries. They are anticipated to begin deliveries in the first half of 2023 and the ships...Read More
Russia’s president has announced plans to ban the exportation of softwood logs and high-value hardwood logs as of January 1, 2022 and is also considering new regulations aimed at reducing the exportation of green softwood lumber. Reducing log and green lumber exports is hoped to stimulate further value-added processing within Russia and better control illegal...Read More
On February 2nd COSCO Shipping Lines (Canada) Inc. participated in the commissioning test of the shore power installation at DP World’s Fairview Terminal in the Port of Prince Rupert. The CSCL Summer operated off the shore power system for the 24-hour test and appears to have drawn about 27805 kWh (27.805mWh), averaging 1.183MW per hour. ...Read More
The Government of Canada has released the findings of the Marine Transportation Safety Board’s investigation on the dragging anchor of the Golden Cecilie and subsequent collision with Green K-Max 1. On March 19. 2020, high winds caused the Golden Cecilie to drag anchor and collide with Green K-Max 1. The collision damage to both vessels above...Read More
The Government of Canada is developing a Blue Economy Strategy to grow our ocean sectors through job creation, inclusion and conservation. This strategy will harness opportunities on all three coasts to spur innovative ideas, create more jobs, leading to a more prosperous future for Indigenous and coastal communities. It will also position Canada as a world leader in...Read More
Alaskan Senators, Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan and Representative Don Young have released a statement over concerns for the consequences of Canada’s cruise ban extension through Feb 1, 2022. The letter notes that Canada’s announcement came as a surprise, and the move did not take Alaska, or their economy into consideration. The extension effectively kills...Read More
Two men are dead and one man has been rescued after a tugboat capsized while underway with tow from Kitimat to Kemano. The RCMP say at 12:40 a.m. Thursday, the Joint Rescue Co-ordination Centre received an emergency beacon from a tugboat in the Gardner Canal near Kemano, about 75 kilometres southeast of Kitimat. An RCMP...Read More
The federal Minister of Labour, Filomena Tassi, along with representatives from the BC Maritime Employers Association (BCMEA), the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) Canada, and the Ending Violence Association of BC (EVA BC), has launched a new harassment and violence prevention training program that will benefit British Columbia’s 10,000-person waterfront workforce. The BCMEA and...Read More
The US Coast Guard’s Cruise Ship National Center of Expertise (CSNCOE) has just published its winter edition of its newsletter and outlines the CDC Conditional Sail Order and details on how the USCG will enforce the Certification of Compliance. Other notable articles in the newsletter includes how US ports and the USCG are preparing for...Read More
Pinnacle Renewable Energy Inc. has announced that it has entered into an arrangement agreement with Drax Group plc and its wholly-owned subsidiary, Drax Canadian Holdings Inc., pursuant to which Drax will acquire all of the issued and outstanding common shares of Pinnacle in an all-cash transaction valued at C$831 million, including the assumption of net...Read More
Last week, the Liberals and NDP defeated Bill C-229, which would have lifted the ban on west coast Canadian oil tankers. The bill was introduced last year, and aimed to repeal Bill C-48, which was passed in 2019 and prohibits tankers carrying more than 12,500 tonnes of crude oil from stopping at B.C. ports between...Read More
The Vancouver Fraser Port Authority (VFPA) issued a public statement on the Government of Canada’s decision to defer the cruise season to February 29, 2022. The VFPA is working with other Canadian cruise ports through the Association of Canadian Port Authorities (ACPA) to develop consistent national safety protocols for the resumption of cruising across Canada...Read More
Through an open letter, the Federal Maritime Commissioners (FMC) is urging US president Joe Biden and his administration to emphasize the important role the maritime industry plays in maintaining the nation’s supply chain and expedite a vaccination program across the workforce. The letter highlights an upward trend in the number of cases of COVID-19 reported...Read More
Lafarge Canada Inc.’s Richmond plant has reached a milestone in its goal of becoming the first cement plant in the world to have the technology to recycle carbon emissions from its cement production. They have now completed the second phase of its Project CO2MENT, the installation of the Svante CO2 capture unit. While the plant will only...Read More
Congestion at the Port of Los Angeles and Long Beach has reached record highs, with queues of as many as 41 container ships waiting to go alongside. This does not include the 27 ships already at berth. When striking longshoremen repeatedly closed the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach for 10 days and eight...Read More
A new ferry for the Isle of Man is set to feature Wärtsilä’s hybrid solution. Wärtsilä will supply a range of solutions for a new diesel-electric hybrid roll-on/roll-off passenger (RoPax) ferry ordered by the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company (IOMSPC). The vessel will be built at Hyundai Mipo Dockyard in South Korea and will...Read More
A crew member of a bulk carrier, MV Giulia, has died and three others injured after the ship was hit by a large wave several hundred miles off the coast of Nova Scotia. The vessel was about 320 nautical miles southeast of Nova Scotia when it was hit by the wave. The incident comes as NOAA’s...Read More
The Government of Canada has announced two new Interim Orders, which prohibit pleasure craft in Canadian Arctic waters and cruise vessels in all Canadian waters until February 28, 2022. As a result of the orders, adventure-seeking pleasure craft are still prohibited from entering Arctic waters, passenger vessels carrying more than 12 people are still prohibited...Read More
The ongoing container crisis has had significant impact on global food trade. Shipping empty containers back to China has become so profitable that many food shippers are having to fight for containers. The core issue is that China, which has recovered faster from COVID-19, has revved up its export economy and is paying premiums for...Read More
Green Marine has broadened the scope of its North American environmental certification program for the maritime industry by adding a performance indicator to assess community relations. Green Marine already has an indicator for landside operations involving community impacts, but it primarily focuses on nuisances, such as dust, light, and noise. Developing this particular indicator presented a...Read More
Canadian wheat exports are expected to remain strong in coming months. Canadian wheat exports excluding durum stood at more than 9.2 million tonnes through the first 24 weeks of the 2020-21 crop year, and increase of nearly 29 percent over last year. Through 24 weeks of the 2019-20 crop year, Canada’s non-durum wheat exports were a...Read More
Ships are piling up outside Los Angeles and other major US ports as American as companies try to restock warehouses and consumers — lacking travel and other entertainment options during the pandemic — buy more products for their homes. A record 38 container ships are awaiting berth space — 36 at anchor and two more...Read More
The International Maritime Organization has reported that the 2020 global sulphur cap brought about a 70% cut in total sulphur oxide emissions from shipping, ushering in a new era of cleaner air in ports and coastal areas by using less polluting fuels. On January 1, 2020 the upper limit of the sulphur content of ships’...Read More
The CMA CGM Patagonia, 15,000 TEU LNG-powered containership, has been launched by Chinese shipbuilder CSSC Jiangnan Shipyard. The vessel was built for the French container shipping major CMA CGM. The containership is the first of five LNG-powered sister vessels ordered by the company back in 2019. CMA CGM Patagonia is scheduled for delivery in mid-August...Read More
A new research centre created at Montreal’s Polytechnique university will aim to protect ships from cyber attacks. Canada’s Maritime Cyber Security Centre of Excellence will combine the expertise of two Polytechnique researchers, Quebec cybersecurity startup Neptune Cyber and Davie Shipbuilding. The five-year research project will focus on cybersecurity for critical maritime infrastructures. Critical ship components,...Read More
Today Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, announced plans to extend COVID-19 testing requirements to all non-essential travellers entering Canada via the land border from the United States, and impose new measures requiring air travellers from overseas to be tested upon arrival and quarantine up to three days in an approved hotel while awaiting the test results....Read More
The Panama Canal contributed to a reduction of more than 13 million tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) equivalent emissions in 2020 by offering a shorter route to ships when compared to the most likely alternative routes. The Panama Canal has also announced that it is launching a CO2 Emissions Dashboard which dashboard will allow users to...Read More
President Biden has signed an executive order on strengthening American manufacturing which is aimed at delivering economic relief to the US economy. The executive action also strongly supports the Jones Act, which requires goods shipped between US ports to be transported on ships that are built, owned, and operated by United States citizens or permanent...Read More
The Government of Canada is investing $5.3 million in five companies to advance innovative solutions that could enhance Canada’s ability to detect and monitor the presence of the endangered North Atlantic right whales in Canadian waters and predict their movements. smartWhales is another initiative aimed at reducing the risk of right whale entanglement in fishing...Read More
