Please be advised that the Port of Vancouver, Canada is becoming very congested with vessels waiting to berth. Unlike the recent past whereby labour disruptions have been the cause, in this case it is primarily due to extreme cold weather that has significantly slowed down rail deliveries

The Vancouver Port Authority has served notice to industry that short term demand for anchorages is likely to exceed capacity. Especially for vessels that exceed 200m LOA. Please see below which the Port has distributed to agents and and terminals so that they can plan accordingly.

Needless to say, we will do our best to work with the Port Authority to find an anchorage for arriving vessels, however if none are available, then it is possible that ships may be required to drift and tender their NOR virtually, without inspections. We will advise on a vessel by vessel basis

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Dear Stakeholders,

Good Morning,

As of today, February 07, 2025, we expect the short-term demand for anchorages at the Port of Vancouver and around the Southern Gulf Islands to exceed availability.

The long-lasting effects of the recent weather conditions in the region mainly cause this surge in demand.

As the safety of vessels and their crews and environmental protection are paramount, our priority during this peak demand is maintaining fluidity at the port and in the anchorage areas.

We recognize that vessels may choose to hold offshore proactively, and we encourage supply chain partners to consider offshore areas (i.e. within 12 nautical miles of Buoy Juliet and the entrance to Juan De Fuca Strait) as an ‘arrived’ location.

To assist in these efforts, the port authority requests that terminal operators continue to confirm anticipated and estimated berthing dates for arriving vessels to ensure available anchorage capacity and support port capacity optimization to maintain fluidity.

Consequently, we are asking ship operators calling the Port of Vancouver to take the necessary actions—such as slow steaming—to practice near-time arrival whenever possible.

Doing so will help:

• Reduce the demand for anchorages and maintain a certain level of port fluidity
• Reduce further port congestion and delays
• Minimize environmental and community impacts

Additionally, we will:

• Maintain fluidity in the Inner Harbour to ensure vessels can conduct essential activities, i.e., fumigation, inspections, bunkering
• Ensure anchorages are assigned to appropriately sized vessels, e.g., larger anchorages will be held for larger vessels
• Consider the berths at Canada Place’s cruise terminal as an assignment option, on a case-by-case basis, to provide relief (see notice of information attached for more information). Terminal fees will still apply to berthing vessels.

We may also move vessels anchored in English Bay to a suitable Southern Gulf Islands anchorage, conditional to confirmed berthing windows.

If you have any questions or require clarifications, please contact our 24/7 Operations Centre by phone at 604-665- 9086 or email at harbour_master@portvancouver.com

We appreciate your understanding and support.

Best Regards,

Harbour Masters’s Office

Marine Operations Centre

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The aforementioned MV “Tenpaisan Maru” was the first vessel ever loaded at Pacific Elevators on December 16, 1924 taking on approximately 10,000 Bushels of wheat or the equivalent of 272 MT. The ship, originally built in the J.L. Thompson Shipyard in Sunderland, UK in 2011, was 115 metres in length and had a gross tonnage of 5,416

The vessel operated in the Pacific for almost 16 years until she was driven ashore at Copalis Beach (just north of Grays Harbour, Washington) by a southwest gale on Thanksgiving Day, November 24, 1927 and was a total wreck

The Canadian Federal Government has approved with conditions Bunge Global’s acquisition of Viterra Ltd. with the deal expected to close in early 2025. The merger, first announced in 2023, will create a global crops trading and processing giant worth $34 billion including debt.

Per the Ministry of Transport and Internal Trade, the terms and conditions of the deal will help ensure that the acquisition does not have a negative impact on competition in Canada’s grain and oilseed sector, notably for grain purchasing in Western Canada and the sale of canola oil in Central and Atlantic Canada. They expect that “farmers will have a wide range of competitive options when they sell their canola and other crops, as well as continue to receive fair prices for their produce.”

Specifically, the terms and conditions include:

• Bunge’s divestiture of six grain elevators in Western Canada to maintain competitive options for farmers in the region
• Strict and legally binding controls on Bunge’s minority ownership stake in G3, another important grain company, to ensure Bunge cannot influence G3’s pricing or investment decisions
• A price protection program for certain purchasers of canola oil in Central and Atlantic Canada to safeguard fair pricing and market stability
• Retaining Viterra’s head office in Regina for at least five years to protect Canadian jobs
• A binding commitment from Bunge to invest at least $520 million in Canada within the next five years, which will foster economic growth, productivity and job creation

There are also over 20 other conditions intended to “enhance the public interest benefits of the acquisition” and if you’re having trouble sleeping some night, you can review the full list at the Orders in Council online database.

Seems like every issue nowadays brings news of yet another labour dispute or resolution somewhere in Canada’s supply chain and transportation infrastructure and this one shall be no exception. Fortunately this time it is only good news; other than the fact you are about to read about some more unions you never knew existed.

First the Canadian National Railway Co. (CN) reached a tentative four-year collective agreement with the International Brotherhood of Electric Workers (IBEW) that represents approximately 750 Signals and Communication employees at CN across Canada. The deal, announced January 28 and is still to be ratified, averts another potential labour disruption at one of Canada’s national railways. The union’s previous collective agreement had expired December 31, 2024, and their membership had voted 95% in favour of a strike.

Meanwhile Canadian Pacific Kansas City Ltd. (CPKC) announced two their own collectively bargained deals to maintain labour peace.  On January 28, CPKC announced a tentative four-year collective agreement with Unifor, which represents about 1,200 mechanics, labourers, diesel service attendants and mechanical support staff at CPKC across Canada. Their members had previously voted 99% in favour a strike mandate, which authorized labour action of a deal wasn’t reached by January 29

The following day, January 29, CPKC was back at it announcing another four-year deal, this time with the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference Maintenance of Way Employees Division (TCRC-MWED), which represents around 2,300 CPKC engineering service employees in Canada.

No details for any of the deals were released.

The Vancouver Fraser Port Authority (VPFA) has announced a new requirement “to proactively manage the risk of vessel strikes to the Lions Gate Bridge.” This latest regulation, which will come into effect on February 18, 2025, will require Tier 1 vessels with specific forward draft and tidal height combinations to have a tethered tug escort when transiting westbound and out through the First Narrows Traffic Control Zone (TCZ-1).

Per the VFPA’s Notice to Industry in late January, they have conducted a risk analysis via a desktop simulation to examine the possibility of a vessel strike with the south tower of the Lions Gate Bridge which spans the TCZ-1. This analysis identified the higher probability of an incident when vessels navigate the area in a westbound direction at higher stages of the tide in combination with shallow drafts.

Basically this will apply to any Tier 1 vessel with a forward draft of less than 8.0m when departing Vancouver’s Inner Harbour (and the vast majority of Vancouver’s terminal) during certain tides while shifting out to anchorage or departing for sea. The good news is that virtually any vessel even partly loaded with a small amount of cargo, will most likely be too deep for the requirement of a tethered tug escort (and the corresponding port cost increase of about CD$4,000). Vessels transiting eastbound into the inner harbour do not fall under this requirement.

Please see here for the VPFA’s full Notice to Industry and here for the risk assessment.

The Prince Rupert Port Authority (PRPA) have released their cargo statistics for 2024 reflecting seeing a minor drop in overall volumes. Per the PRPA, 23.1 million tonnes of cargo moved through the various terminals in the Port of Prince Rupert last year, marking a 1% percent decline from 2023. Despite this overall decrease, several key sectors saw growth.

Grain exports through Prince Rupert Grain Terminal (PRG) saw the biggest gains from 2023 to 2024, growing by 26% to just over 4.5 million tonnes. This marks the second consecutive year of increased volume through PRG after the terminal saw an 11% gain from 2022 to 2023.

Wheat of course remains the dominant cargo with just over 3,500,000 metric tonnes loaded out of PRG in 2024, marking a 15% increase from the year previous. The most impressive increase however was in canola which saw a jump of 109% with 569,270 metric tonnes shipped through the terminal in 2024. And barley also saw a relatively big increase, up 83% to 483,000 metric tonnes.

Container volumes through DP World’s Fairview Container Terminal grew by 5% in 2024 despite operations being impacted by two labour disruptions and a brief suspension of rail service due to wildfires. AltaGas’ Ridley Island Propane Export Terminal saw a 15% increase in liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) exports, shipping 2.3 million tonnes. And Pembina’s Watson Island LPG Bulk Terminal handled 502,800 tonnes marking a 2% increase.

On the other hand, coal exports at the Trigon Pacific Terminals dropped by 23% (down from 7,334,480 to 5,354,729 metric tonnes overall) with shipments of both metallurgical and thermal coal falling substantially last year. While Drax’s Westview Wood Pellet Terminal shipped just over 1.2 million tonnes of wood pellets to markets in Europe and Asia, which was down approximately 4% from 2023.

The origins of Vancouver’s oldest operating grain terminal, Pacific Elevators, began in 1916 when the Canadian federal government built what was then known as Vancouver Elevator 1. And in typical federal government fashion, the elevator proceeded to sit unused for the next seven years until it was handed over to the Vancouver Harbour Commission in 1923.

Soon afterwards the Harbour Commissioners added two more grain elevators to the existing facility which were then leased out to private companies to operate. So it was in 1924, the Vancouver Grain Terminal Company loaded the first vessel, the Tenpaisan Maru for 10,000 bushels (272mt), at the first privately held grain terminal in the Port of Vancouver, which would eventually become Pacific Elevators.

Over the next century the terminal would continue to load grain through numerous changes to name and ownership, facility expansion and contraction, as well as multiple upgrades to the loading system and terminal infrastructure. The most recent change in ownership came in 2008 when Viterra Inc acquired the site and renamed it as Pacific Terminal.

Soon after, in 2011, Viterra began their own extensive upgrades which included the installation of a new low emission ship loader, a new air emission system, new low emission truck loaders, upgrades to automation systems and the removal of the obsolete ship loading and conveyance systems; making Pacific Elevators one of the most modern and efficient grain terminals in the port, despite being a centenarian.

As we come upon Vancouver’s coldest months, those parties with cargo fumigation requirements should bear in mind the potential difficulties and delays that can arise from the falling temperatures.

Canadian regulations for cargo fumigation require a minimum temperature of 5 degrees Celsius for the cargo. Temperatures below that mark can limit the ability of the Aluminum Phosphide pellets to react with the ambient moisture and release their Hydrogen Phosphide (PH3 – Phosphine Gas) in the cargo holds. If the cargo temperature falls below that mark, it can prevent adequate gas levels building up in the holds which are needed to confirm there is no possibility of leakage into the superstructure.

This regulation is vital as it directly affects crew’s safety. Each year, approximately 7-10% of ships experience instances of fumigant gas infiltrating areas such as the engine room, accommodations, forecastle (forward storage space), crane towers, or deck stores.

In some cases vessels may need to wait at anchorage for an improvement to the outside temperature before the 24hr fumigation process can begin. Fumigators will monitor the situation closely; including grain temperatures at commencement of loading, during loading and weather forecast information to best coordinate the fumigation process and limit any potential delays due to the cold.

Depending in the ultimate destination and schedule, vessels loading in Prince Rupert could also have the option to sail to Vancouver for fumigation enroute. Generally the temperatures and weather are more favorable for fumigation in Vancouver.

The union representing British Columbia port supervisors in a dispute with their employers has applied for a judicial review of federal Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon’s decision last month to order them back to work.

In an application dated Dec. 3, the International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 514 says it is seeking to quash MacKinnon’s direction on Nov. 12 to the Canada Industrial Relations Board to order a resumption of port operations in B.C. after a lockout imposed by employers.

MacKinnon’s order also includes a direction for the board to impose “final and binding arbitration” to resolve the dispute, which the union says violates workers’ Charter rights “to meaningful collective bargaining and to strike.”

The dispute between Local 514’s roughly 700 members and the BC Maritime Employers Association resulted in a shutdown of port facilities across the province between Nov. 4 and Nov. 14, as employers locked out supervisors in response to an overtime ban by union members.

None of the accusations in the application have been proven in court.

The employers association says in a statement that its counsel would be responding to the application and it would not provide further comment.

In the application, Local 514 and president Frank Morena say MacKinnon had not brought up the possibility of invoking Section 107 of the Labour Code or imposing binding arbitration before making the order.

Section 107 gives the minister additional powers to take action that “seem likely to maintain or secure industrial peace and to promote conditions favourable to the settlement of industrial disputes.”

Legal experts have said the language of the section is vague about what it allows a minister to do and this may be used by labour groups to challenge a minister’s orders.

Last month, Local 514 filed a challenge at the Canada Industrial Relations Board, questioning whether MacKinnon’s order violated the rights to collective bargaining and to strike.

Source The Canadian Press

Canadian National Railway (CN) has reached a tentative four-year collective agreement with Unifor. The union represents approximately 3,300 employees at CN in Canada, working in different mechanical, clerical, and intermodal functions.

The agreement, pending ratification by union members, was announced on December 9, just three weeks before the current contract’s expiration of December 31. Though no details of the tentative agreement will be released publicly until it has been ratified, Unifor Council 4000 officials expressed satisfaction with the deal, highlighting “meaningful gains” achieved through extensive negotiations

The Unifor members of Council 4000 and Local 100 had voted overwhelmingly in favour of job action, with 97% supporting a strike if an agreement could not be reached by January 1, 2025. Council 4000 represents over 3,300 workers in customer service, clerical roles and mechanical operations. While Local 100 represents approximately 2,100 workers, including mechanics and heavy equipment operators. They had been looking for job security with improved wages and working conditions in the deal.

Given the recent spate of labour disruptions and governmental orders that have affected Canada’s supply chain recently, it is nice to see a negotiated settlement that avoids any further disruptions.