The Vancouver Sun recently published an opinion piece submitted by Trevor Heaver and Christoph Rohner  in response to MP Alistair MacGregor's Private Member's Bill C-250, seeking to prohibit ships from anchoring in the Southern Gulf Islands.  While recognizing the environmental concerns, the writers point to the need for better management of port logistics to reduce the need for vessels to anchor rather than a ban on anchorages. Greater transparency and collaboration through sharing of data as being piloted under Transport Canada's Supply Chain Visibility project is a good start.  To learn more about why ships anchor, visit our website page on Anchorages.

As part of its commitment to the Vancouver Seafarer Welfare Committee, the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority is donating five portable Wi-Fi units to the Mission to Seafarers with a two-year subscription to promote the health and well-being of seafarers. The need for Wi-Fi has been identified as a crucial service on ships for visiting seafarers, especially when access to shore leave and shore welfare facilities is limited. The seafarers can access the system through their personal laptops and phones. While the Vancouver Seafarer Welfare Committee continues to work on long-term solutions to provide easy Wi-Fi access across Port of Vancouver, these units can help address some immediate needs for seafarers.

G3 has announced the opening of three new grain elevators in Alberta: G3 Wetaskiwin, G3 Stettler County and G3 Irricana. The new elevators are able to accommodate truck unloading of grain in less than 5 minutes, while trains up to 150 cars can load in continuous motion on the loop track in a matter of hours.

GCT Canada has completed the final two tracks of the GCT Deltaport Intermodal Rail Yard Expansion Project.  This project is the second, $300 million privately-funded stage of the multi-phased expansion Deltaport Terminal Road and Rail Improvement Project (DTRRIP), a collaboration with the Port Authority and the Province of British Columbia. The densification approach to this project, demonstrates GCT’s commitment to increasing capacity within its existing footprint and minimizing operational and environmental impacts on the surrounding community. Rail handling capacity at GCT Deltaport has increased by more than 50% due to the project. The total terminal capacity is now 2.4 million TEUs annually. This state-of-the-art, fully operational rail yard provides necessary surge capacity and added certainty on transit and dwell times for our customers.

The Honourable Marie-Claude Bibeau has issued a statement on Agricultural Exports in 2020. She indicated that Canada is on track to surpass last year’s record of $67 billion in agriculture and agri-food exports, and that significant progress is being made towards the Government's goal of $75 billion by 2025. Canada has continued to grow trade and be a reliable trading partner, while pivoting whenever necessary. Key results were noted, including:

• From January to October 2020, Canadian agri-food and seafood exports increased by 10%, reaching $61.0 billion compared to $55.5 billion for the same period in 2019.
• Top destinations for agri-food and seafood exports continue to be the US, with nearly 52.7% of exports; China at 12.5%; Japan at 6.9%; and the European Union (EU)1 at 5.4%. It is notable that the EU has shown a 42.7% value increase from the same period in 2019.
• Canada's agri-food and seafood imports reached $44.5 billion in the first 10 months of 2020, an increase of 2.2% compared to the same period last year.
  
  

Transport Canada has issued Ship Safety Bulletin 28/2020 Mobility of Asymptomatic, Presumed Non-COVID-19-Carying Seafarers in the Marine Sector during the COVID-19 Pandemic. The latest Ship Safety Bulletin (SSB) provides further guidance on the movement of "asymptomatic" seafarers under the Government of Canada's current Orders in Council during the pandemic and specifically addresses restrictions on crew changes, shore leave and exemptions from quarantine requirements for workers in the marine sector. Shore leave for asymptomatic seafarers is permitted, provided that "controlled shore leave" is restricted to the following locations only:

• A shore-based welfare facility located either on marine facility grounds or in a nearby location;
• A designated area on marine facility grounds if such an area has been identified for that purpose;
• A medical facility, a pharmacy or a store containing a pharmacy.

This Ship Safety Bulletin replaces No.18/2020 issued on June 30, 2020.

Transport Canada has issued Ship Safety Bulletin No. 26/2020 - Trial Voluntary Protection Zone for Shipping, West Coast Haida Gwaii,  The trial that commenced on September 1 will run for over one year through to October 31, 2021 and encourages vessels to travel at least 50 nautical miles away from the shores of the west coast of Haida Gwaii.  Exceptions to the 50 nautical miles are in place for cruise vessels, vessels transiting between Pacific Northwest ports and tugs and barges.  Safety remains paramount.  Details of the trial were originally published in the Notice to Mariners Publication - Western Edition 10/2020 and have been republished in the December 2020 Notice to Mariners.

US Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao has announced that she will be resigning from her post, effecting January 11th, in the wake of pro-Trump riots at the Capitol. Chao has served as transportation secretary since January 2017, and is the first Cabinet member to leave her post following Wednesday's riots. Officials who have resigned since Wednesday's chaos include the former White House press secretary and first lady Melania Trump's chief of staff, Stephanie Grisham; deputy White House press secretary Sarah Matthews; deputy national security adviser Matt Pottinger; White House social secretary Rickie Niceta; the US's special envoy to Northern Ireland and former White House chief of staff, Mick Mulvaney; and other officials from the Commerce Department and National Security Council.

Empty cruise ships are heading to the Port of Los Angeles as cruise liners look forward to resuming cruises in U.S. waters. Though there is no clear date on when cruising may resume, the vessels are coming to port to refuel and restock supplies as a prerequisite to meet federal regulations in order to resume cruising in the future. The Port of Los Angeles expects more than two dozen cruise ship calls through early February.

The Port of Corpus Christi Authority Commission has approved a lease agreement and related pipeline easement for the Bluewater Texas Terminals (BWTX) offshore deepwater port project, a 50/50 joint venture between Texas-based Phillips 66 and Trafigura Group. The proposed project will consist of up to two single point mooring (SPM) buoys located approximately 21 nautical miles from the entrance to the Corpus Christi Ship Channel. The project is currently in the permitting stage and is subject to final investment decision by the joint venture partners. The proposed project will lease 12 non-waterfront acres for an operations facility on Harbor Island, to include an office and equipment for inspection, monitoring and communications.

Many countries are making rules governing seafarer movement stricter as new strains of the coronavirus emerge, the most extreme rules coming from the Philippines, which has placed a ban on seafarers from 21 nations. Other countries tightening restrictions include Japan, China, South Korea, France, Singapore, Russia, Indonesia, Reunion and Mauritius. Seafarers will be restricted from entering the Philippines for the first two weeks of 2021 from countries including the major shipping nations of Denmark, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, the UK and US.

Ocean Network Express (ONE) has announced plans for the long-term charter of the world’s largest containerships. They intend to charter six Ultra Large Container Ship newbuilds with capacity of more than 24,000 TEU, each for a period of 15 years. The newbuilding expected to be delivered in 2023 and 2024. With capacity exceeding 24,000 twenty-foot units, the new ships will likely be the largest in the world, just slightly larger than the current titleholders.

The South Korean government has released details of their 2030 Green Ship-K Initiative, as part of the country’s Act on Promotion of the Development and Distribution of Eco-Friendly Ships. Under the newly launched initiative, the Korean government will invest some KRW 960 billion in eco-friendly ship technology development projects. The plan calls for using carbon-free ship technologies such as hydrogen and ammonia to reduce harmful ship emissions by 40 per cent in the next 25 years and by 70 per cent in the next 30 years. The plan also includes the construction of more than 10 pilot ships demonstrating green technologies such as LNG bunkering ships and LNG-ammonia mixed fuel propulsion ships.