Unifor, Canada’s largest private sector union is calling for a crackdown on the growing container trucking black market at the Port of Vancouver. Unifor claims that unlicensed truckers are moving containers off-dock within the Lower Mainland at steeply discounted prices, which is undermining licensed, fee-paying companies. The union is urging the provincial government to give the Office of the Container Truck Commissioner more tools to properly monitor the off-dock shipments, and levy fines.

CN Rail has ordered 50 electric trucks from Canadian supplier Lion Electric Co. for intermodal operations in Toronto, Vancouver, and Montreal. The trucks will be used to perform urban deliveries, container shuttle service and port operations. Using the trucks will help reduce greenhouse gas emissions and noise pollution. The trucks will have a range of up to 250 miles on a single charge. It has gross-vehicle weight rating of 54,600 pounds and cost between CA$300,000 to $400, apiece depending on the configuration.

DP World and Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ) have announced their commitment to an additional $4.5bn investment to expand the ports and terminal network they own and operate. The additional funds will raise the combined investment by the two parties to $8.2bn. DP World owns 55% of the investment platform while CDPQ holds the remaining 45%. DP World will use the additional funds to expand its footprint in existing geographies, as well as new regions such as Europe and Asia Pacific.

The voluntary slowdown at Swiftsure Bank began on August 1, and since that time 159 large commercial vessels, departing both Canadian and US ports, have transited outbound through the slowdown area. Of those vessels, 81% were able to transit the slowdown area within 1 knot of speed through water targets showing excellent participation rates so far. The voluntary slowdown in Haro Strait and Boundary Pass continues to show high rates of participation, and has maintained a pilot-reported cumulative participation rate of 93% over the first nine weeks of the slowdown initiative.

According to Statistics Canada, Canadian farmers are set to harvest the biggest wheat crop in seven years and slightly less canola. Statscan pegged the all-wheat harvest at 35.7 million tonnes, up from last year's 32.3 million and slightly exceeding the average trade expectation. Bigger wheat production was driven by a 39% jump in durum output. In contrast, canola production looked set to reach 19.4 million tonnes in the 2020-21 marketing year, smaller than last year's 19.5 million and below the average trade guess of 20 million tonnes.

The Vancouver Fraser Port Authority has released their 2020 mid-year statistics for goods moving through the Port of Vancouver. From January 1 to June 30, 2020, overall cargo through the port decreased by 1.1% from 72.4 to 71.7 million metric tonnes (MMT) over the same time last year. Despite an overall decrease in cargo moving through the port, new mid-year records were set for bulk and containerized grain, as well as total foreign tonnage and foreign exports. Strong global demand for Canadian grain resulted in a new mid-year record of 16.3 MMT for both bulk and containerized grain, an increase of 10.4% or 1.5 MMT compared to mid-year grain records from the previous year. Total foreign tonnage and foreign exports resulted in mid-year records of 57.7 and 49.7 MMT, up 1.2% and 2.1% respectively, due to strong increases in grain, petroleum, chemicals and canola oil volumes. Increases in wheat, up 7.5%, canola, up 25.6%, and specialty crops, up 10.0%, contributed to this new record. In fertilizers, potash exports decreased by 6.7% from last year’s record and sulphur increased by 5.7%.

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the requirements under the Quarantine Act, the Canada Border Services Agency's Pacific Region has made changes to the reporting process for commercial vessels.  The modified process takes effect immediately. Changes include:

• Pre-arrival information is submitted as per normal procedures (no change).
• The Pacific Region Operations Communication Centre (PROCC) the main point of contact for vessel agents, captains, and/or vessel operators to ensure the health and safety of travellers as well as facilitate the movement of goods.
• All persons on board are subject to health screening under the Quarantine Act.  At first port of arrival, the vessel agent or captain/vessel operator MUST submit the pre-arrival information and the mandatory traveller health screening form (attached) for ALL persons on board. This paperwork must be submitted to MarineE-PAN.PAC-CBS@cbsa-asfc.gc.ca or reported in by telephone at 604-713-9840 or 604-713-9810 regardless of the time of day.

Questions can be directed to MarineE-PAN.PAC-CBS@cbsa-asfc.gc.ca  or by telephone at 604-713-9840 or 604-713-9810.

The Government of Canada and the Council of the Haida Nation have launched a 14-month trial Voluntary Protection Zone for Shipping, effective September 1, 2020. The Voluntary Protection Zone is part of the Proactive Vessel Management initiative under Canada’s Oceans Protection Plan. The trial is the result of a partnership between the Government of Canada and the Haida Nation, and in significant collaboration with Canadian and US shipping industry associations. All parties have agreed that vessels of 500 gross tonnage or greater transiting along the west coast of Haida Gwaii will observe a minimum distance of 50 nautical miles (nm) from  shore, with the following exceptions:

• Cruise vessels, who are asked to observe a minimum 12 nm distance from shore;
• Vessels transiting between Pacific Northwest ports (Washington, British Columbia, and Alaska), who are asked to observe a minimum 25 nm distance from shore;
• Tugs and barges (includes pushing and towing alongside) and fishing vessels are fully exempt.

Operation Bubba Gump is the name given to a joint state and federal effort to protect and enforce fishing regulations in the waters off of South Carolina and Georgia that was kicked off last week.  Nine different Coast Guard units partnered with South Carolina and Georgia’s Departments of Natural Resources, the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division and the NOAA Office of Law Enforcement to patrol both state and federal waterways.

The Port of Los Angeles has unveiled its new advance vessel arrival dashboard, called Signal, which will allow access to shipment information three weeks in advance of vessel arrivals. The dashboard includes information on cargo by container type, mode of transportation, and whether the containers will move by truck or rail once they arrive. Railroads, chassis providers, truckers, warehouse operators, and other port stakeholders will be able to use Signal to plan their supply chain needs. Signal will begin operations next week.

California has approved a new regulation designed to further reduce pollution from ocean-going vessels while docked at the state’s busiest ports. The updated rule adds new vessel categories which will be required to control pollution when they run auxiliary engines or auxiliary boilers while docked. Vessels covered under the existing regulation include container ships, reefers and cruise ships. The updated regulation adds auto carriers and tankers, two categories that produce 56 percent of all fine particulate pollution from ocean-going vessels at berth in California ports. Once fully implemented, the updated regulation is expected to deliver a 90 percent reduction in pollution from an expected additional 2,300 vessel visits per year. The updated regulation starts in 2023 for most vessels, with auto carriers needing to comply starting in 2025. Tankers docking at the Port of Los Angeles and the Port of Long Beach must also comply starting in 2025, while tankers in Northern California have until 2027.

K Line is planning to deploy a small-scale, marine-use demonstration plant for CO2 capture onboard one of its vessels in collaboration with Mitsubishi Shipbuilding and ClassNK. The project, called Carbon Capture on the Ocean (CC-Ocean), is intended to achieve CO2 capture at sea. This project seeks to verify the efficacy of capturing and storing CO2 from a vessel’s gas emissions, as well as the operability and safety of CO2 capture facilities at sea. The two-year project will begin in August 2020.

Maersk has announced that it will be reorganizing as it seeks to integrate its seaborne container and in-land logistics businesses. The move will see Damco freight-forwarding business and Africa-focused carrier Safmarine integrated into Maersk by the end of the year and their brands will cease to exist. Between 26,000 and 27,000 employees out of Maersk’s total headcount of 80,000 are expected to be affected by the restructuring, though so specific details have been released about cuts.

MSC has unveiled a new trans-Pacific service linking Yantian and Shanghai with Long Beach. The rotation on the Santana service, which will run independently of the carrier’s 2M Alliance vessel-sharing agreement with Maersk Line, will be Yantian, Shanghai, Long Beach, Vancouver, Busan, and Yantian. MSC has yet to announce the capacity of the vessels to be deployed on the string.

A ship carrying 43 crew and nearly 6,000 cattle from New Zealand to China has capsized after losing an engine in stormy weather in the East China Sea, according to the only crew member rescued so far. The Gulf Livestock 1 sent a distress call from west of Amami Oshima island Wednesday as Typhoon Maysak headed through the region towards the Korean peninsula, bringing strong winds, heavy seas and drenching rains.

Bahamas Paradise Cruise Line is on track to be one of the earliest oceangoing cruise operators in the United States to restart operations. It has announced plans for a sailing leaving Palm Beach for Grand Bahama on November 4, just after the end of the Cruise Lines International Association's voluntary suspension of cruising on October 31. Bahamas Paradise is not a CLIA member, and it had previously aimed to restart operations on October 1 - the day after the end of a legal moratorium issued by the CDC, but well before the end of the industry's voluntary suspension. It has since moved back its plan due to the continued challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Carnival Corp.'s Costa Cruises is restarting operations in the Mediterranean market this weekend, putting it back into competition with rival MSC, which has already resumed service. The 2,800-passenger Costa Deliziosa will offer weekly domestic cruises out of Trieste, Italy beginning on Sunday, visiting five Italian ports of call - Bari, Brindisi, Corigliano-Rossano, and Siracusa and Catania in Sicily. On September 19, Costa Diadema will depart Genoa for ports on Italy's western coast, Sicily and Sardinia, including Civitavecchia, Naples, Palermo, Cagliari and La Spezia. For now, only Italian passengers will be permitted to board. The vessels will be implementing a comprehensive set of prevention protocols to keep the risk of coronavirus infection to a minimum, including new policies on crew health and safety, booking, activities, entertainment, dining and embarking and disembarking operations. The requirements include COVID-19 testing for all guests prior to embarkation.