The Canadian federal government has turned down urgent requests from business leaders to directly intervene in an indefinite strike launched Monday by more than 1,100 Port of Montreal dock workers. The Government has decided to see through the outcome of the collective bargaining process, with hopes that the two parties can come to an agreement. Federal mediation teams have met with both sides on many occasions and continue to be present and available.

The new truck staging facility opened in Delta, B.C, increasing capacity by 140 trucks. The new facility seeks to address long-standing road safety concerns in the Delta community when port-destined container truck queues reach more than 15 trucks along the Roberts Bank causeway. The facility is located on provincial land at the intersection of Highway 17, Highway 17A and Deltaport Way.

Canadian Pacific (CP) has launched a new international intermodal service through the Port of Saint John. The inaugural train carries containers from the Hapag-Lloyd vessel Detroit Express bound for intermodal terminals on the CP network in Canada and the US. CP gained access to the Port of Saint John through connections with EMRY and NBSR with CP's purchase of the Central Maine & Quebec Railway (CMQ), completed in June. CP's route is the shortest between Atlantic Canada and key North American markets. By the end of the year, CP anticipates it will be able to offer 24-hour service between Saint John and Montreal.

The Prince Rupert Port Authority (PRPA) has announced its investment of $142,000 towards extensive upgrades to the Prince Rupert Centennial Golf Course. With two separate contributions from PRPA’s Community Investment Fund, the Golf Club has completed a pair of multi-faceted projects totaling $255,000. These improvements ensure the facilities and equipment are safer and more resilient to the elements, so they can be enjoyed by the community for years to come.

The Mission to Seafarers, a charitable organization that looks after seafarer welfare by providing spiritual guidance, vital supplies and a voice of comfort to our visiting seafarers in the Port of Vancouver, re-vamped its Cycle for Seafarers event in the face of Covid-19. This year’s event ran over the summer months and officially ends on the day that the usual annual ride was planned for, August 29^th.  In lieu of the organized ride, we encourage everyone to get out and ride for the Mission, especially those with the Mission to Seafarers jersey.  Register online and donate to enter a prize draw. Swing by the Mission and snap and post a photo in front of the sponsors banner using @MTSVancouver and #MTS2020Cyle and #SeafarersAreKeyWorkers.  Details at: https://app.simplyk.io/en/peer-to-peer/2fdd6c76-7352-4977-ad07-ea343d0e9200?&lng=en

A joint operation between the RCMP and Canada Border Services Agency led to the seizure of seized nearly 17 kilograms suspected cocaine from a ship near Victoria on June 2, 2020. 11 individually wrapped packages were found in the engine room of the commercial vessel. A dive team also found evidence that there may have been more drugs on board that had been “retrieved underwater sometime before law enforcement's intervention." No arrests or charges have been made.

Maritime industry veteran, Jack Mahoney, has been named President and CEO of Westwood Shipping Lines, Inc. Mahoney will replace retiring President and CEO, Guy Stephenson, who has served in the role since 2007.  Stephenson will continue in a support role as Executive Advisor/General Counsel. Mahoney served many of his maritime years at Maersk, including three years as President of Maersk in Canada and, more recently, he has been Vice President of the Automotive Industry in Florham Park, NJ.

Representatives from China, Denmark, Finland, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, Republic of Korea, and Singapore have launched a network to address the challenges and align standards for the trials and operation of Maritime Autonomous Surface Ships (MASS) in ports. MASSPorts aims to develop detailed guidelines and conditions for MASS trials in port, which are in line with IMO’s interim guidelines for MASS trials. The group also seeks to establish common terminology form and standards of communication, ship reporting, and data exchange to enhance inter-operability of systems across different ports to ensure seamless operation.

The International Maritime Organisation (IMO) has announced that they will be holding all meetings virtually through to the end of the year including 75th session of the Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC), a gathering that will attempt to thrash out short-term measures to ensure shipping slashes its carbon footprint. MEPC, postponed in March due to Covid-19, will now take place remotely from November 16 to 20.