Late last week the bulk carrier, Vega Rose, had several crew members onboard that tested positive for COVID-19 while the vessel was alongside at Westshore Terminals.  The infected crew remain in a quarantine facility arranged by the Public Health Agency. The vessel was eventually put to an anchorage in English Bay and has since departed Vancouver. Individuals that were potentially exposed to the virus by the infected crew have been either quarantined or required to self-isolate.  Other unrelated COVID-19 infections have been reported within the ILWU and in all the cases the Waterfront Industry Response Protocols have been followed by the terminals, and this includes keeping the affected workers off duty until they are cleared by medical officials.

BC Ferries has announced that passengers will no longer have the option of remaining in their vehicles on enclosed car decks, effective September 30. The change comes in the wake of federal transportation regulators advising BC Ferries that the most recent measures developed and implemented to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in all transportation modes and businesses no longer necessitate passengers to remain in their vehicles on enclosed car decks. Certain areas of the vessels will now reopen for seating only to provide passengers with more space for physical distancing.

The Minister of Transport, the Honourable Marc Garneau announced funding of up to $2.5M over three years for 29 eligible Indigenous communities along the Trans Mountain shipping route to participate in the Quiet Vessel Initiative.  The Quiet Vessel Initiative addresses the impacts of underwater vessel noise on Canada's marine environment and vulnerable marine mammals, including Southern Resident Killer Whales. Through their participation, Indigenous groups are expected to help evaluate the most promising technologies, vessel designs, retrofits and operational practices to reduce underwater vessel noise. Indigenous participation will also increase local capacity and technical training in these areas. Eligible Indigenous groups have until November 25, 2020, to apply for funding to participate.

The Government of Canada has announced a $9.4 million investment in four tidal energy projects that will bring clean energy technologies to the Atlantic region.  Tidal energy is a renewable energy that has the potential to significantly reduce Canada's greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and improve local air quality by displacing electricity generated from fossil fuels.  The projects include advancing research on river hydrokinetic and in-stream tidal energy technologies and fish and marine mammal interactions with tidal devices.

Commissioners Louis E. Sola and Rebecca F. Dye briefed Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Chad F. Wolf about the Federal Maritime Commission response to COVID-19, including fact finding investigations examining impacts to the passenger cruise industry and the intermodal freight delivery system.  The FMC will work with key stakeholder to identify commercial measures for passenger cruise lines and operational solutions to the cargo delivery system to mitigate the challenges related to COVID-19.

The Port of Los Angeles and Port of Long Beach have exempted ships from the requirements mandating the use of shore power while in port and allowed the use of stationary and portable generators or auxiliary ship engines to reduce the strain on the energy infrastructure and increase energy capacity during the heatwave. The Port of Long Beach has invested more than $180 million to ensure all its six container terminals have shore power.

The US Coast Guard completed oversight of the first foreign vessel to bunker Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) as fuel in Jacksonville, Tuesday. The Swedish tankship, Fure Ven, moored alongside Talleyrand Marine Terminal to take on LNG as fuel. The Fure Ven is the first-ever foreign vessel with plans to bunker LNG in Jacksonville. LNG offers a clean alternative with 100% reduction of sulfur oxides and 90% reduction of nitric oxides when compared to heavy fuel oil.  

The US Navy has awarded contracts to study the possibility of adding large unmanned vessels to its fleet. The firm-fixed price contracts total nearly $42 million, and have been awarded to six companies including Huntington Ingalls, Lockheed Martin, Bollinger Shipyards Lockport, Marinette Marine Corp.; Gibbs & Cox; and Austal USA following an open competition. The contracts were established to refine specifications and requirements for a Large Unmanned Surface Vessel (LUSV) and conduct reliability studies informed by industry partners prior to competition of a Detail Design and Construction contract. The LUSV program was established to support the Navy’s Future Surface Combatant Force through the development and fielding of low-cost, high-endurance, unmanned vehicles that complement manned surface combatants.

The Mayflower Autonomous Ship (MAS), one of the world’s full autonomous ships, will be officially launched on September 16th in Plymouth, UK. The project is led by marine research organization Promare, with IBM as technology partner. Finnish technology company Wärtsilä has joined also joined the global consortium earlier this year. The vessel will then spend the next 6 months in sea trials and will undertake various research missions and voyages before attempting to cross the Atlantic in Spring 2021.  

A humanitarian crisis is taking place at sea and urgent action is needed to protect seafarers’ health and ensure the safety of shipping, the IMO Secretary-General Kitack Lim has warned. In a strong statement issued ahead of the General Assembly of the United Nations, he called on governments to take swift action to resolve the crew change crisis.   It is estimated that more than 300,000 seafarers and marine personnel are currently stranded at sea and unable to be repatriated despite the expiry of their contracts. A similar number of seafarers have been unable to join ships and relieve them. Some seafarers have now been on board their ships for more than 17 months, exceeding the 11-months limit set out in the Maritime Labour Convention (MLC).