Canada's Economy: Working through the scenarios
Supply Chains: Stopping supply chain slavery in Canada
Spill Response: Past, progress but not yet public
Commercial Marine News for Canada’s West Coast.
BC SHIPPING Volume 9 Issue 7
NEWS
www.bcshippingnews.ca
September 2019
Industry Insight
Brad Pettit, Stewart World Port: Growing Canada's newest gateway
B.C. Ports Update
Expansion, infrastructure and access are key priorities for B.C. ports
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CONTENTS September 2019 Volume 9 Issue 7
Cover Story
43
22 9 10 14
EDITOR’S NOTE By Jane McIvor
20
IN BRIEF
Industry traffic and news briefs
22
INDUSTRY INSIGHT Growing Canada’s newest gateway Brad Pettit, President, Stewart World Port Pettit and his father, Ted Pickell, are building capacity and increasing efficiencies as the West Coast’s most northern ice-free port provides another gateway option to get Canada’s resources to market.
47
HISTORY LESSON
Hermann Otto Tiedemann and the planning of Port Waddington By David R. Leverton
49
B.C. PORTS
Expansion, infrastructure and access are key priorities for B.C. ports
35 WATERFRONT
Waterfront offers rare industrial opportunity on the North Shore
37
44
51
SUPPLY CHAINS
Real-time, efficient tracking optimizes Canada's supply chain By Corrie Banks
SPILL RESPONSE
Past, progress but not yet public By Professor Trevor Heaver
MARINE RESPONSE
Leaning and looking forward By K. Joseph Spears
LEGAL AFFAIRS
New law comes into effect for wrecked, abandoned and hazardous vessels By Jason Hicks
WOMEN IN SHIPPING International Women’s Conference Achieving gender equality will increase talent pool for industry
CANADA'S ECONOMY
Working through the scenarios
39 MANUFACTURING
Trusted protection for the marine industry By Adam Eweida, MSc
41
14
SUPPLY CHAINS
Stopping supply chain slavery in Canada By Daryl Anderson
35
On the cover: Stewart World Port (photo courtesy Stewart World Port); above: Vancouver Harbour (photo courtesy Vancouver Fraser Port Authority/Colin Jewell Photography); right: North Shore Waterfront (photo courtesy Vancouver Fraser Port Authority/William Jans); left: Brad Pettit, Stewart World Port September 2019 — BC Shipping News — 7
September 2019 Volume 9/Issue 7 Publisher McIvor Communications Inc. President & Editor Jane McIvor
Naval Association of Canada National Conference 2019 Sponsored by the Naval Officers' Association of British Columbia
0800 – 1600 October 4, 2019 BCIT Marine Campus 265 West Esplanade, North Vancouver, British Columbia Agenda Canada and the Pacific (Strategic Situation) • Dr. James Boutilier, Special Advisor (Policy), Maritime Forces Pacific • Jonathan Manthorpe, Freelance Journalist and Author • Richard Fadden, Former Director, CSIS RCN into the Future • Vision of the RCN (Speaker TBA) Naval Reserve – International Perspective • USN Naval Reserve Experience and Future Plans (Speaker TBA) • RN Reserve Experience and Future Plans Cmdre Martin Quinn, ADC, RN, Commander Maritime Reserves • RCN Reserve Status and Way Ahead Cmdre Michael Hopper, CD, RCN, Commander Naval Reserve Marine Industry • Association of BC Marine Industries Dan McGreer, Director • The RCN Joint Support Ship (JSS) (Seaspan Speaker TBA)
For more information on registration or sponsorship opportunitites, contact Robert McIlwaine: robert.mcilwaine@gmail.com 8 — BC Shipping News — September 2019
Darryl Anderson Adam Eweida Jason Hicks David R. Leverton Jane McIvor Ian Robertson K. Joseph Spears
Contributors
Corrie Banks Trevor Heaver Zoran Knezevic Ian Marr Brad Pettit Robin Silvester Shaun Stevenson
Editorial Assistant Amanda Schuldt Advertising and Subscriptions Phone: 604-893-8800 Jane McIvor (jane@bcshippingnews.ca) Advertising only: Lesley McIvor (lesleymcivor@shaw.ca) Louise Kawaler (louisek@telus.net)
Contents copyrighted 2019 McIvor Communications Inc. 300 - 1275 West 6th Avenue, Vancouver, British Columbia Canada V6H 1A6 Phone: 604-893-8800 E-mail: jane@bcshippingnews.ca International Standard Serial Number ISSN: 1925-4865 / Published 10 times per year.
The opinions expressed by contributing writers are not necessarily those of the Publisher. No part of this magazine may be reproduced in any form without written permission of the publisher.
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EDITOR’S NOTE
Photo: Dave Roels
With thanks and gratitude
T
his is a tough Editor’s Note to write. While some of you have already heard the news that this is the last issue of BC Shipping News, others might be taken by surprise and for that, I apologize. There are just so many people to thank that I’m afraid a blanket expression of appreciation and gratitude will have to suffice. Nine years ago, BC Shipping News set out with a mandate to give a voice to the commercial marine industry on Canada’s West Coast. It’s been an amazing journey. Each person I’ve met, story I’ve heard, and lesson I’ve learned has only reinforced my opinion of what a truly impressive industry we have here in British Columbia.
I hope you’ve enjoyed that journey as much as I have and I further hope you’ll agree that we met our mandate. I say “we” because this was a team effort. The magazine would have been nothing without the talented writers, photographers, suppliers, advertisers and, of course, readers who participated in every issue. Your support, and most importantly, your friendship has made this a meaningful venture, one I will never forget. As I have been advising colleagues that this is the last issue, two questions invariably arise — why didn’t you sell; and what are you going to do next? First, there were a few conversations about others taking over the reins. For a number
of different reasons, none of them came to fruition. I can’t say I’m disappointed though — selling BC Shipping News would have been like selling my baby and my heart just wasn’t in it. Second, I’m not dead yet! McIvor Communications Inc. lives on. Should you ever have a need for communications, marketing or project management, I would be delighted to discuss how I can help (email: jane@mcivor-communications.com). In the words of Winnie the Pooh, “How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard.” So let’s not say goodbye. Rather, see you soon. — Jane McIvor
Thank you to BC Shipping News for being a strong voice of the local maritime industry
ROBERT ALLAN www.ral.ca
September 2019 — BC Shipping News — 9
INDUSTRY TRAFFIC
Bright future ahead for BCIT grads 2019 Nautical Sciences Graduating Class Photo courtesy BCIT
F
amily, friends and the maritime industry were on hand to celebrate the convocation for the newest graduates from BCIT Marine Campus. Held at the BCIT downtown campus on July 5, the ceremony for the 2019 Nautical Sciences and Marine Engineering classes was emcee'd by Associate Dean Captain Philip McCarter who congratulated students before introducing BCIT Board of Governors Chair, Doug Eveneshen; Agnelo Pereira, Nautical Chief Instructor; Eamon Hayden, Marine Engineering Chief Instructor; and Jeff Otto, Cadet Co-op Coordinator. Each in turn reflected on the past four years of studies and commended students on their hard work. Recognizing the importance of the support from family and friends, speakers encouraged graduates to remember the experiences they shared and use them throughout their career. Kory McSorley and Jashanreet Bains gave the valedictorian speeches on behalf of
Back row — Kory McSorley, Christopher Yates, Cullen Lovick, Stephen Wyatt and Simon George. Front row — Sandra Lebon, Lucas Anaka and Siri Zwynenburg (absent: Kristen Fredheim).
NEWS BRIEFS
Recipient of awards were as follows: • Oak Maritime Awards — Deck Officer (DO) Sandra Lebon and Engineering Officer (EO) Francis Lemieux • Transport Desgagnes Awards — DO Simon George and EO Mehran Ziaei Nejad • Algoma Central Corporation Awards: DO Christopher Yates and EO Jashanreet Bains • Chamber of Shipping Awards — DO Kristen Fredheim and EO Emily Buck • Vancouver Maritime Arbitrators’ Association Award — DO Sandra Lebon • BC Ferry and Marine Workers Union Awards — DO Kory McSorley and EO Tsao (Edward) Tse • British Columbia Ferry Services Awards — DO Cullen Lovick and EO Ivan Viryachev • Vancouver Conway Club Award — Lucas Anaka • Nautical Professional Education Society Awards — DO Stephen Wyatt and EO Petar Didak
2019 Marine Engineering Graduating Class Photo courtesy BCIT
the Nautical Sciences class and the Marine Engineering class respectively.
Back row — Ivan Viryachev, Petar Didak, Edward Tse Tsao and Mehran Ziaei Nejad. Front row — Francis Lemieux, Jashanreet Bains and Gabriel Stanton (absent: Emily Buck).
September 2019 — BC Shipping News — 11
NEWS BRIEFS
Unveiling of special painting of MV Asterix
I
nternationally renowned marine artist months to complete and included a special John Horton travelled from his home visit to the Esquimalt Naval Base to photoin Tsawwassen, British Columbia, in graph vessels to ensure accurate depictions. mid-June to unveil his latest painting at the Both Horton and FFS’ CEO, Spencer annual Maritime Gala Ball in Ottawa. Fraser were invited to assist Vice Admiral The event, hosted by the Royal Canadian Art MacDonald, Commander of the Navy and the Canadian Coast Guard, was RCN, to unveil the painting, aptly named attended by more than 600 people includ- “Replenishment at Sea.” Davie Shipyard, ing many of the senior admirals and com- a sister company of FFS, converted a conmissioners. The Governor General attended tainer ship to produce the MV Asterix. It as the special guest of honour. was done on schedule and on budget. Her At the Maritime Gala Ball VIP recep- personnel include a mixed navy and civiltion, a painting commissioned by Federal ian crew and she is proving to be well up Fleet Services (FFS) was unveiled and presented to the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN). The work, produced by Horton, illustrates the supply ship, MV Asterix, conducting a replenishment operation at sea where she is providing fuel and supplies to Canadian Patrol Frigates, something at Left to right — Vice Admiral Art MacDonald (newly commissioned head of the RCN); John Horton; Spencer Fraser, CEO, Federal Fleet which she excels. Services; and John Schmidt, Vice President, Commercial, Davie The painting took Shipyards. Horton about two
to supporting the needs of a task force on any ocean of the world.” MV Asterix fills the gap left when HMCS Protecteur and HMCS Preserver were decommissioned and is a clear representation of innovative partnerships. Canadian adaptability has once again come to the fore at a real time of need.
Upcoming events Visit www.bcshippingnews.ca for more information. Association of Canadian Port Authorities Conference
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INDUSTRY INSIGHT
Growing Canada's newest gateway Brad Pettit, President, Stewart World Port Photo courtesy Stewart World Port
O
ver the past five years, Brad Pettit has been working with his father, Ted Pickell, to realize a vision for the future of northern B.C. Recognizing the potential of B.C.’s Golden Triangle — an area so named for the triangular shape of land that hosts some of the richest gold ore bodies and mineral deposits in the world — Pickell and Pettit opened Stewart World Port (SWP) in 2015. As Canada’s most northern ice-free port, SWP is strategically located to accommodate the export of mineral resources and wood products to markets a full day and a half faster than its southern counterparts. Given the growth of mining operations in the area (discoveries within the last few years include 30 million ounces of gold; 800 million ounces of silver and 40 billion pounds of copper), it’s no wonder that the Honourable Marc Garneau, Minister of Transport, announced a major investment of $13.1 million to increase capacity at SWP. That investment shows confidence in the efforts of Pettit and the family-owned port facility to provide another gateway that allows for efficient and more cost-effective solutions to get Canada’s resources to market. BCSN: Let’s start with a brief overview of your career and some of the key lessons you’ve learned. BP: I earned my certification in Industrial Instrumentation from BCIT and I’m also a 14 — BC Shipping News — September 2019
As Canada’s most northern ice-free port, SWP is strategically located to accommodate the export of mineral resources and wood products to markets a full day and a half faster than its southern counterparts. certified Power Engineer. Before joining SWP in 2014, I worked my way up through the ranks of a large energy company based in Fort St. John. I started with field work in trades and operations and eventually ended up in management. I also served as the Chief Power Engineer for two B.C. waste heat recovery power plants. I’ve learned something from each role I’ve undertaken, whether it was building operational and technical strengths, problem solving or managing a workforce. Here at SWP, we’re a small team which means we do a lot of multi-tasking — the skills and strengths from my past experiences have helped immensely in everything from dayto-day operations to big-picture strategic planning. BCSN: Tell me about SWP. BP: My father, Ted Pickell, founded Stewart World Port in 2012. For over 60 years, he has been the owner of Arctic Construction Ltd. and grew that company from a small proprietorship to one of the largest private construction companies in northern B.C. and the Yukon. In addition
to successfully delivering high quality projects in some of the most logistically challenging regions in Canada, he also took on a wide range of projects in remote areas internationally, pioneering projects in Siberia, Vladivostok, Kazakhstan and Libya. These included the construction and operation of a hotel, the transport and operation of construction equipment in the Russian Arctic, setup and management of construction operations for a large oilfield and the construction of an island in the Caspian Sea. In 2012, he wanted to build something for himself and saw the potential of a development in Stewart, Canada’s most northern, ice-free port. We officially opened SWP on September 16, 2015, the first commercial deep-sea wharf built on the coast of B.C. in over 30 years. As soon as we opened, we were awarded our first multi-ship inbound cargo contract with the first ship arriving in 2016 and we have continued to grow since then. BCSN: Could you provide an overview of the terminal infrastructure? BP: We’re located at the end of the Portland Canal (about two kilometres
INDUSTRY INSIGHT Photo courtesy Stewart World Port
south of the town of Stewart). Our wharf is 224 metres in length and 20 metres wide and we have a laydown area of about 100 acres. At low tide, the draft is 35 metres at the south end and 18 metres at the north end and we have on-dock axle capacity of 50,000 kg/axle. We are capable of berthing Handymax and Panamax vessels. The first two phases of construction — the dock and laydown area — were completed in 2015 and we’re now in the planning stages for the third phase which includes concentrate sheds, conveying systems, and a bulk shiploader with a load rate of 3,300 tonnes per hour. BCSN: Could you provide some details about the recent announcement of the federal government’s investment? BP: Minister Garneau announced that the federal government was investing $13.1 million from Transport Canada’s National Trade Corridors Fund to increase capacity and improve fluidity of emerging export commodities such as bulk wood, mineral and agricultural products from Northern British Columbia, Yukon, Alberta, and Saskatchewan. The project consists of
SWP’s berth is 224 metres in length and 20 metres wide with a draft of 35 metres and is capable of handling Handymax and Panamax vessels. installing bulk loading conveyor systems and power and control facilities at Stewart World Port. Increasing regional, provincial and national shipping capacity in Stewart to handle large amounts of mine concentrates
and open up new sources of wood is imperative to improving economic development, particularly in B.C. and across the north. There are 15 mines in what we call the “Golden Triangle” around Stewart. They’re all in various stages of developing
Thank you to BC Shipping News for your contributions to B.C.'s maritime industry. Vancouver l Fraser River l Squamish l Port Mellon l Kitimat l Prince Rupert l Stewart September 2019 — BC Shipping News — 15
INDUSTRY INSIGHT Our facility offers mining companies a more efficient and less expensive shipping solution over southern ports, saving not just tens of millions of dollars in transport costs but lowering GHG emissions... copper, gold, zinc or coal. They’ve told us they’d benefit immensely from an export terminal for concentrates and an import terminal for construction materials and mine resupply in Stewart. Our facility offers mining companies a more efficient and less expensive shipping solution over southern ports, saving not just tens of millions of dollars in transport costs but also lowering GHG emissions by eliminating truck and rail transport to southern ports. And we’ll be competing with U.S. ports. BCSN: Could you give an example of some of the cargoes you’ve been able to accommodate? BP: The first cargo received at the port was equipment for the North West Redwater bitumen refinery in northeast Alberta and then we worked with GE to
bring in cargo for their windmill project near Tumbler Ridge. Since then, most of the activity we’ve seen has been inbound breakbulk — project cargo and heavy, over-dimensional modules for oil and gas and mining companies. We see a lot of mining equipment, heavy mobile equipment and tanks for the oilfields. Most recently, we started a long-term contract with Lafarge Cement to bring in regular shipments from Seattle for a new cement facility that went into operation in April this year. We have load-out truck service every day. BCSN: What about exports? BP: While we’ve had a few export projects, we haven’t yet secured contracts for the regular export of mineral resources or wood products but we’re getting closer and
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expect to make an announcement within the year. We see great potential for this area, known as the Golden Triangle. It is home to some of the richest gold ore bodies in the world as well as significant silver, nickel and copper deposits. SWP is the closest breakbulk terminal to the mines in this region which means significantly reduced transportation costs. BCSN: While on the subject of transportation, I understand there have been a number of projects that have improved access to the terminal. Could you provide some details on this? BP: Yes, both the provincial and federal government have been instrumental in improving the transportation corridor in northwest British Columbia. For example, the BC Ministry of Transport has invested in a replacement bridge on Highway 37 which will help greatly with weight restrictions. The project should be completed by this fall. Over the last five years, additional infrastructure upgrades have included the paving of the Stewart-Cassiar Highway and a $700-million, high-voltage transmission
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INDUSTRY INSIGHT Photo courtesy Stewart World Port
line to bring power into the Golden Triangle. All levels of government recognize the strategic location of Stewart and the potential role it can play in getting Canada’s resources to market and thereby generating jobs and contributing to the growth of the economy. We’ve also done some preliminary engineering and have an investigative permit to look at a proposed railway. The project would require partnership investments but would provide another gateway for Canada. We are already in discussion with some investors but we’re still at the beginning stages. We estimate 18 months to two years for the environmental assessment and regulatory process and then another two to three years for construction. Given that the route would follow the highway corridor for the most part, access for construction would be fairly easy and help speed up the construction period. BCSN: What about marine access? BP: Transport Canada recently installed additional navigational aids which have been working well. We do recognize the need for better tidal and current information and have started discussions on that. BCSN: Noting the expansion of both the transportation corridor and SWP, could you comment on efforts to ensure environmental sustainability as well as work with local First Nations? BP: We’re situated on the traditional territory of the Nisga’a. We have a good relationship with them and keep in regular communication. A number of their members are employed by us and we both recognize the mutual benefits the Port brings to the community. In terms of environmental sustainability, our dock was built to a high standard and includes state-of-the-art infrastructure with energy-efficient equipment. We’re also able to trap deleterious material so that there is no contamination of surrounding waters. One initiative in particular that is quite close to my heart is the fish offsetting program we have. Whenever you have new construction that takes up fish-bearing areas, you’re required to compensate for that by constructing fish habitat. We now have three sites around the area of Stewart where we’ve opened up fish paths and built spawning grounds. Before we did this, there was no fish in these areas. Now, there are thousands of fish. It’s quite satisfying to watch
SWP brings in a lot of mining equipment and heavy mobile equipment for the oilfields and northern mines. the fish grow where once there were none. And we have plans to work on more sites in the future. BCSN: Let’s look at the future for SWP. What are some of your priorities? BP: Our main priority is to grow both inbound cargo volumes and resource exports. We expect we’ll see an increase in project cargoes with the start of the LNG Canada project. We’re already working with some customers on that. In terms of exports, as mentioned, we should be in a position to make an announcement on a contract later this
year/early next. And once we have our first bulk loading system in place through the Phase III expansion, I can see there being a requirement for dock expansion. One of our goals in the longer term is to provide the community of Stewart with a stable source of employment. Right now, our crew varies anywhere from four to 15 depending on the job at hand but we’d like to get to a stage where there is a more steady flow. There’s nothing better than to provide the opportunity for the people of Stewart to be able to stay here and raise a family with the security of a full-time job. BCSN
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INDUSTRY INSIGHT About Brad Pettit
About Stewart World Port
aving joined in 2014 as Director of Port Operations, Brad Pettit is currently the President of Stewart World Port, bringing over 30 years of experience working in heavy industry. He has an extensive operations and technical background and his most previous role had the responsibility for an interprovincial natural gas liquids pipeline with related storage, truck loading and rail loading facilities. Pettit had previously served in various operations and maintenance leadership roles with progressively more responsibility. He has served as the Chief Power Engineer for two B.C. waste heat recovery power plants.
tewart World Port is a Canadian company dedicated to responsible port development, management, and operations in Stewart, British Columbia. The multi-purpose, most northerly icefree port facility in Canada is located at the end of the Portland Canal two kilometres south of the town of Stewart and closest to one of the most mineral rich areas of North America — the Golden Triangle — as well as paved access to B.C. and Alberta. The location provides up to a full day advantage to Asian markets over southern ports and has favourable climate, low winds and good anchorage.
H
Pettit has a technical background with certification in Industrial Instrumentation from the British Columbia Institute of Technology and is a certified Power Engineer.
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Stewart World Port’s modern facility has been constructed to the highest environmental standards and offers the latest in loading and storage technology to ensure customer cargo is handled efficiently and effectively. The deep-sea wharf is capable of berthing Handymax and Panamax vessels. Customers include mining, forestry, oil and gas, and project cargoes. Outbound cargoes include bulk mineral concentrates, wood chips and pellets, LNG and coal. Inbound cargoes include mine resupply, pipe, modules, cement powder, project supply and equipment and fuel. Combined, the port has 100 acres of laydown. For more information, visit: www.stewartworldport.com
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HISTORY LESSON
Hermann Otto Tiedemann and the planning of Port Waddington By David R. Leverton Executive Director, Maritime Museum of British Columbia
B
The proposed port and townsite was located
ute Inlet is an 80-kilometre long deep fiord fed by the tributaries of the Homathko and Southgate Rivers and is recognized as one of British Columbia’s special wild places. In 1860, Alfred Penderell Waddington proposed the creation of a new alternate route to the Caribou goldfields that would be far shorter than the Douglas Road and would begin at the head of Bute Inlet and travel along the Homathco River through the coastal mountains before connecting with the Fraser River at Fort Alexandria on the Chilcotin Plateau. This new road was estimated to save both time and money by being hundreds of kilometres shorter. The plan was to send steamers from Victoria to Port Waddington where they would eventually take a toll road up to the goldfields.
within the traditional lands of the Homalco First Nation and the overland route leading up the Homathco River entered the ancestral
BC Archives PDP00105
lands of the Chilcotin people...
Upper Entrance to the Defile, Bute Inlet (1865 watercolour on paper by Frederick Whymper). 20 — BC Shipping News — September 2019
The terminus for the new road was to be located at the head of Bute Inlet where steamships could take advantage of a dedicated deepwater port for both importing supplies into the Caribou Region and for exporting gold and other resources back to the colony in Victoria. The proposed port and townsite was located within the traditional lands of the Homalco First Nation and the overland route leading up the Homathco River entered the ancestral lands of the Chilcotin people including the Laichkwil-tach, Klahoose and Tsilhqot’in First Nations. On June 4, 1861, a meeting was held in Victoria to raise funds for Waddington’s plan. In attendance was Lady Jane Franklin, wife of the arctic explorer, Sir John Franklin, who was in Victoria at the time raising money to support another search for her missing husband along with several well-known early settlers. In 1862, the initial funds had been raised for the proposed new road and Waddington was granted a multi-year concession and hired architect Hermann Otto Tiedemann to map the route and design the port and townsite at the head of the inlet. Tiedemann was educated as an architect and civil engineer in Berlin and had immigrated to Vancouver Island in 1858 at the age of 37 where he became the colony’s first registered architect. During the same period, it is believed that Tiedemann designed the earliest lighthouses on the West Coast at Fisgard Island and Race Rocks in 1859–60 although the design drawings were never actually signed. Tiedemann had also completed the architectural designs for the first legislative buildings referred to as the ‘bird cages’ in 1859 that were located on the site of Fort Victoria. By late November of 1862, over 50 kilometres of trail had been blasted along the Homathco River only to be washed away during the spring snowmelt of 1863. Waddington’s road project was drawing a lot of negative press back in Victoria due to the ongoing physical challenges of the rugged terrain and the increased costs, eventually forcing him to sell much of his Victoria property in order to continue with the project. The construction of the road eventually led to the Tsilhqut’in uprising and the port, townsite and road were never completed. Alfred Penderell
Waddington eventually died from smallpox in February 1872. Although Tiedemann never saw the planned completion of his design for a port and townsite at the head of Bute Inlet or the new route to the Caribou goldfields, he did oversee the architectural designs of several important landmarks including the original St. Andrew’s Presbyterian church in 1869, the original Anglican Cathedral in 1871-72 and the Hudson’s Bay Warehouse that was situated on Wharf Street. Tiedemann’s most important commission in later years was the new Provincial Courthouse which was hailed at the time as a lasting monument to the progress of the newly formed Province of British Columbia towards architecture in 1888-89 and was the former home of the Maritime Museum of British Columbia for over 50 years. Most of Tiedemann’s important contributions to early Victoria’s architecture have been destroyed with the exception of the original provincial law courts. The building was designated as a National Historic site in 1980 however, it has yet to receive recognition by British
Source: BC Archives G-02350
MARITIME MUSEUM OF BC
Hermann Otto Tiedemann. Columbia as one of the province’s most important historic landmarks. Today, Bute Inlet’s deep fiord and its 80-kilometre trek to the mouth of the Homathko and Southgate rivers is often considered out of bounds for many
boating enthusiasts because of its remoteness, unpredictable weather and lack of amenities such as safe anchorages and marinas in close proximity. Those adventurous boaters who catch the right weather and have a chance to visit the region will appreciate the daunting sense of awe that Tiedemann and Waddington’s workers must have experienced when first encountering the site of the Homathko Glacier and the steep coastal peaks. Hermann Otto Tiedemann passed away in September 1891 and his architectural accomplishments were recognized through the geographical naming of a creek, glacier and mountain in the Bute region. The one major accomplishment that eluded Tiedemann was the planned completion of Port Waddington and an alternate route to Fort Alexandria. David R. Leverton is the Executive Director of the Maritime Museum of British Columbia and recently co-authored Those Who Perished: The Unknown Story of the Largest Shipwreck Disaster along the Pacific Northwest Coast. David can be reached at dleverton@mmbc.bc.ca.
DELIVERING ECONOMIC GROWTH
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BILLION ANNUAL TRADE
By rail, by truck, and by vessel--the economic impact of the Port of Prince Rupert continues to grow, supporting families and businesses across Northern British Columbia. As we continue to connect Canadian industries with overseas markets, the benefits of this trade will continue to strengthen our communities.
business@rupertport.com rupertport.com
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BILLION ECONOMIC ACTIVITY
3100 JOBS
IN BC
B.C. PORTS
Expansion, infrastructure and access are key priorities for B.C. ports
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hrough each update on the activities of B.C. ports, common themes become readily apparent. Most significant among them is the recognized need to keep pace with growth. With the goal of ensuring Canada's West Coast Gateway continues to provide an efficient and effective way to get goods to and from international markets, ports are focused on infrastructure projects designed to improve access to terminals and the flow of goods, and facilitate expansions that will add capacity, whether it be for containers, bulk commodities or cruise passengers. And while each port has their own unique challenges, opportunities and obstacles, common issues such as delayed permitting processes and uncertainty over future environmental assessment regulations remain.
Port of Vancouver
Canada’s largest port continues on at a busy pace with an overall four per cent increase in total tonnage reported for 2018 and similar numbers being seen for 2019. The largest increase was seen in the breakbulk sector which grew by 10 per cent in 2018. To assist with the growth of the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority, President and CEO Robin Silvester was pleased to announce receipt of $100 million in federal funding to support trade-enabling infrastructure
and studies. “As a Canada Port Authority, our job is to make sure the port is ready to handle Canada’s growth in trade, but we are also undertaking a number of projects beyond the port to improve the flow of goods and seek to alleviate the impacts of growing trade on local communities,” he said. “With this federal funding, we are able to take on five new projects that will enable us to continue this critical work.” The five funded projects include three infrastructure projects in Richmond and Surrey to reduce interactions between the community and road and rail activities by building overpasses and making other improvements in operations. Additional funding will support two studies that will look at how to move goods more efficiently throughout the Lower Mainland. These new projects are in addition to work on a number of projects already underway: • The Centerm Expansion Project, which includes reconfiguration and expansion of the Centerm container terminal. By increasing the terminal footprint by 15 per cent and rearranging on-site operations, the facility will be able to handle about 60 per cent more containers, growing it to a container-handling capacity of 1.5 million TEUs. • Road and rail improvements along the south shore of the Burrard Inlet include
The Port of Vancouver's South Shore Access Project will greatly improve flow and capacity when complete in early 2022. Photo: Vancouver Fraser Port Authority and William Jans (photographer)
the construction of a new overpass on Centennial Road to bypass rail tracks; changes to Waterfront Road to create a continuous port road from Canada Place to the McGill Street port entrance; removal of the Heatley Avenue overpass and installation of a new port entrance gate near the Main Street overpass; and realignment of Commissioner Street to accommodate the installation of additional rail track. Construction on the Centennial Road overpass began this July and will continue through to early 2022. Work on the Commissioner Street road realignment will begin this fall with the deconstruction of the old Columbia Containers grain elevator. • Construction of a new truck staging area in Delta at the intersection of Highway 17, Highway 17A and Deltaport Way to reduce queues. The facility will be able to accommodate up to 140 trucks, including early arrivals, have a secure vehicle access gate and include a Commercial Vehicle Safety and Enforcement Area for truck safety inspections. When combined with other Deltaport Terminal Road and Rail Improvement projects, capacity for movement of containers in and out of Roberts Bank will increase by 600,000 20-equivalent unit (TEU) containers, to a total of 2.4 million TEUs per year.
B.C. PORTS • A number of projects related to upgrades for the rail corridor through Burnaby supporting goods movement to the North Shore, including the installation of additional rail track by Canadian National Railway (CN) starting mid2019 and ventilation upgrades to Thornton Tunnel. The port authority is also working with the City of Burnaby to progress conversations about a future overpass near the current Douglas Road crossing, in alignment with their transportation plan. • The Pitt Meadows Road and Rail Improvements Project will undergo the first phase of community consultation this fall. The project proposes a new new four-lane underpass crossing the Canadian Pacific Railway (CP) main line at the location of the existing Harris Road crossing; a new two-lane overpass crossing at the existing Kennedy Road crossing; and new rail siding track to support the Vancouver Intermodal Terminal. The project is anticipated to cost $141.1 million. • The conversation continues with key stakeholders, including gathering information on shared values and objectives on grade separation opportunities in the Tri-City area at Pitt River Road, Colony Farm Road, Westwood Street and Kingsway Avenue. The projects will provide much-needed relief on some of the access points to Port of Vancouver terminals. While on the subject of terminals, Silvester was pleased to report that the Roberts Bank Terminal 2 Project completed public hearings on June 24, a major milestone in the environmental assessment process. The public hearing record will officially close on August 26 once closing remarks have been submitted by registered participants. Following the close of the record, the independent review panel will evaluate the information received throughout the environmental assessment and provide a report with recommendations that will be submitted to the Minister of Environment and Climate Change who will issue a decision regarding the project. Also proposed for the Roberts Bank area, Global Container Terminals put forth an application of a Preliminary Project Enquiry for a fourth berth at DeltaPort. The port authority rejected the application and now, the matter is currently the subject
of a judicial review. Both GCT and the port authority are unable to comment while the review is underway and only time will tell which way the courts will decide and whether GCT will be able to move forward. “While we can’t speak to specific aspects of the DP4 proposal, because it is currently the subject of a judicial review, it should be noted that Canada simply cannot wait any longer to build its marine container terminal capacity,” Silvester said, adding that RBT2 is the “only project in a position to provide the next significant container terminal capacity to the West Coast in line with the time when it will be needed.” The other big news for the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority team was the announcement of a new Harbour Master and Director, Marine Operations and Safety. Captain Shri Madiwal, with over 20 years of experience at sea and in senior management, returns to Vancouver from Nova Scotia where he was Director, Fleet Operations for Marine Atlantic. Looking at the port authority’s continuous focus on the environment, the ECHO Program will again be coordinating two
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research trials aimed at reducing underwater noise for southern resident killer whales. Since 2014, the ECHO Program has undertaken numerous collaborative research initiatives to better understand and manage the cumulative effects of shipping activities on whales in our region, in particular the southern resident killer whales. Underwater noise from ships can interfere with whales’ ability to hunt, navigate and communicate, and slowing or moving ships further away in known whale feeding areas can affect the underwater noise levels in those areas. The ECHO Program’s voluntary underwater noise reduction initiatives take place in the summer months when the southern resident killer whales return to the Salish Sea to feed. In terms of managing regulations, the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority has updated their Port Information Guide to formalize navigation channels approaching the Burrard Inlet to further promote safety in the Port of Vancouver and accommodate larger ships — this included formalizing the 15-knot speed reduction in the First Narrows which previously had been voluntary.
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September 2019 — BC Shipping News — 23
B.C. PORTS
Photo: Lonnie Wishart
Significant investments are being made to improve access to Ridley Island.
Port of Prince Rupert
It’s hard to know where to start with the report from the Prince Rupert Port Authority (PRPA) given so much positive news. With just one year in the role of CEO, Shaun Stevenson is enjoying some of the strongest numbers and most active periods in Prince Rupert’s history. Looking at the big picture, PRPA saw a 10 per cent increase in total cargo volumes in 2018 and the numbers for 2019 continue to be strong. “For the first half of the year, we’ve seen a nine per cent increase overall,” said Stevenson. “Containers are up nine per cent as is coal through Ridley Terminals and grain is up 16 per cent.” That growth trend is born out through the Port Authority’s recently released economic impact study 20190060-Gillespie-Munro Ad 7.5x4.87-hi.pdf
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With just one year in the role of CEO, Shaun Stevenson is enjoying some of the strongest numbers and most active periods in Prince Rupert’s history. that shows, in total, international trade cargo handled in 2018 at the Port of Prince Rupert was valued at approximately $50 billion and the business of transporting that trade through the gateway created $1.5 billion of economic activity in the region. The Port is now responsible for 6,200 direct and indirect jobs associated with moving trade through northern B.C., an increase of 1,000 since 2016. Other impressive statistics from the study show that annual wages associated with
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that employment totalled $481 million and the average annual wage rose to $87,200 in 2018. In addition to employment benefits, Port activity also created over $125 million in annual tax revenues for all levels of government through stipends, personal tax, corporate tax and property tax revenues. The Canadian and B.C. governments were the largest recipients, but property taxes generated from PRPA lands increased to $9.3 million in revenues for local government as well. Compared to the last economic impact study delivered in 2016, economic indicators across the board showed a significant upward trend, reflecting the 40 per cent increase in port volumes during that time. Looking at specific terminals and infrastructure projects, there was no shortage of news on that front either. Starting with the gem in the Port’s portfolio, Fairview Container Terminal, DP World is working on project permitting for an expansion that will take capacity from 1.35 million TEUs to 1.8 million by 2022. Construction should start early in 2020. Looking at the longer term for the container sector, the PRPA completed a container terminal master plan in May that identifies a potential six to seven million TEU capacity through the development of multiple terminals,
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including a second container terminal with capacity of 2.5 million TEUs at the Port’s South Kaien Island site. Stevenson was pleased to note that the sale of Ridley Terminals by the federal government to the consortium of Riverstone Holdings and AMCI Group included an equity position for the Lax Kw’alaams Band and the Metlakatla First Nation, recognizing the importance of First Nations stakeholders in the overall economic expansion of the Port. The sale comes as the PRPA team works with RTI management on a second berth that will help with handling the growth in coal but also will help to segregate traffic for the newly opened Ridley Island Propane Export Terminal (RIPET). The project is currently working its way through environmental assessments and should be ready for the start of construction in the first half of 2020. Remaining with the RIPET project, Stevenson reported that AltaGas’ partner, Royal Vopak, has been working on a much larger-scale project for the last few years to expand and develop a new green-field liquid bulk terminal. “That would vastly expand the capacity for propane, butane as well as perhaps methanol and diesel. It should be through its environmental assessment within the next six to nine months and hopefully we’ll see a Final Investment Decision by the spring. The facility will have the capacity for about eight million tonnes per annum to start,” he said, adding that the capital investment is an estimated $1 billion. The Westview Wood Pellet Terminal, owned by Pinnacle Renewable Energy Group, is getting back on track following devastating damage done to the Entwistle, Alberta, production facility earlier in 2019. Despite the setback, Stevenson is expecting a record year for wood pellet volumes. Still on the subject of pellets — however plastic pellets — Ray-Mont Logistics and CN Rail recently announced that they will be collaborating on a new plastic pellet export facility. The multi-million dollar facility will bag plastic pellets in containers and ship them out of the port. The first phase of construction is currently underway and expected to be complete by the end of August. “Ray-Mont has been doing really well since opening their facility in the second half of 2017,” said Stevenson. “They’ve been seeing tremendous growth in the transload of agri products and now, this new project is a great response to what we’re
seeing happen in Alberta as the province continues to develop value-added products for the petrochemical industry.” Stevenson also pointed out that Tidal Transport’s CT Terminals — owned in partnership with the Coast Tshimshian — has become an integral part of the Port’s export logistics solution for intermodal. “The terminal was established to handle project cargo a number of years back but when construction activity for the energy sector declined, we repurposed some of that capacity to handle the transload of forest products arriving by rail and containers.” To manage the growth being seen at Prince Rupert’s terminals, the Port has been working to ensure access and flow keep up with the pace. “The Fairview Ridley Connector Corridor project will not only move trucking activity away from the downtown core,” said Stevenson, “but it will also connect lands where we’re actively advancing plans for a large-scale export logistics park on Ridley. This will create a significant scale of capacity for export transload related to the container business.” The $100 million project will be both a dedicated haul road but will also include the construction of two additional rail tracks. Early preparations have started and Stevenson expects to be in the full throes of construction within the next couple of months. Following the federal government’s announcement last November of a $21.9million investment for three projects, including the Ridley Connector project, the logistics park on Ridley Island as well as the replacement of the Zanardi Rail Bridge, Stevenson reported that the PRPA has been working with CN on gateway rail master planning to understand current capacities and identify potential bottlenecks. “A number of infrastructure projects have been prioritized through that work,” he said, “and we expect that some of those will be confirmed over the upcoming months so we can proceed in 2020.” As with all port CEOs, Stevenson is watching developments related to Bill C-69. “It has introduced a degree of uncertainty when you have large capital projects being planned,” he said. “We’re looking at it very closely to make sure we understand how best to navigate our way through it so that we can create certainty for investments being considered here. Capital is fleeting and sometimes I think we forget that in Canada.”
B.C. PORTS “Depending on cruise activity in Seattle and overall for the Alaska theatre, we’ll be looking at the possibility of a fourth berth, including where it should be located...”
Greater Victoria Harbour Authority
CEO Ian Robertson had nothing but good news to report for GVHA, starting with operating revenues for the fiscal year 2018 (ended March 31, 2019) that were $1.4 million more than budgeted thanks to higher-than-anticipated cruise numbers and non-cruise revenue at Ogden Point, especially a six-month berthing for the CCGS John Franklin at Pier A for outfitting that was “unexpected but welcome.” While on the topic of Ogden Point, Robertson reported that work continues on the Master Plan for the terminal. “Before we make our final submission, we’ve brought in a consultant to look at our overall process to date to identify information gaps and anything we need to improve to make sure we’re putting forward the best proposal we can to Victoria City Council, including a governance piece for the project,” he said. In the meantime, cruise numbers continue their year-over-year upward climb. “We had four new vessels visit Victoria this year — the Queen Elizabeth, Ovation of the
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Seas, Azamara Quest and Norwegian Joy — and welcomed the eight-millionth passenger who came off the Norwegian Joy in mid-May,” Robertson said. Given the continued success for Victoria’s cruise industry, it’s no surprise that plans have been underway to extend the dolphin at Pier B. What was a surprise however was the loss of the steel for the project when it fell into the ocean last December, leading to a one-year delay. “We worked with the BC Coast Pilots and got everyone’s agreement to have the Ovation, the longest vessel to ever visit Victoria, berth at Pier A this year,” Robertson reported. “Steel has been reordered and we’ll start construction this year after the current cruise season so that we’re ready in time for the 2020 season.” Robertson and his team are also considering a fourth berth strategy and will be looking at the possibility over the new couple of years. “Depending on cruise
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activity in Seattle and overall for the Alaska theatre, we’ll be looking at the possibility of a fourth berth, including where it should be located,” he said. Past reports for GVHA and the cruise industry have always included an update on relations with James Bay, the local neighbourhood surrounding Ogden Point. Robertson was pleased to report that the relationship with residents and the Neighbourhood Association have improved immensely. “The number of calls and enquiries are down significantly from where we were four years ago,” he said. “We’re more communicative and transparent and we’ve taken some really good steps around ground transportation, such as bringing in industry-leading controls over aging buses. I think the community can see that we’re really trying to do what we can to mitigate the impact. Obviously, there will always be points that we’ll respectfully disagree on, but I would say our communication is as good as it ever has been.” In addition to addressing ground transportation concerns, Robertson has engaged Synergy Enterprises, a well-respected company known for their expertise in carbon accounting and auditing, to study emissions in 2010, 2014 and 2018 and set some targets for GVHA to achieve over the next three or four years. Reminding BC Shipping News readers that GVHA is much more than cruise at Ogden Point, Robertson was pleased to point out that the Harbour Authority recently received a five-anchor rating from Clean Marine BC, the highest possible environmental certification available for West Coast marinas. “This is really indicative of the great work our team does at the marinas. We also met and exceeded criteria required by Georgia Strait Alliance during the tri-annual audit of our facilities, so we’re very pleased with that,” he said, adding that over 2,000 boaters are welcomed during the season as well as winter and long-term moorage. One property that often gets overlooked in GVHA’s portfolio is Ship Point Marina. “We welcomed over 325 vessels last year that were over 60 feet in length,” he said
B.C. PORTS
GVHA will be expanding Pier B this fall and is considering a fourth berth for the future. and noted that, in partnership with the City of Victoria, GVHA completed a $1.8-million upgrade project which included structural upgrades and repairs to the 1949 portion of the property which is jointly owned by GVHA (60 per cent) and the City (40 per cent).
Photo courtesy Greater Victoria Harbour Authority
The remaining bit of news from Robertson was their recent hire of a First Nations engagement manager to develop a program that provides for greater engagement with the Esquimalt and Songhees Nations. “The program is part of the Canadian Council of Aboriginal Business and outlines steps we can take to be much more engaged with First Nations. We’re already seeing some good benefits around issues like governance and employment so we’re very pleased at how the process is improving relations.”
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B.C. PORTS Port of Nanaimo
The strategy of diversifying port business is paying off for CEO Ian Marr and the Port of Nanaimo team who just posted their highest grossing revenues in 2018 and seeing similar results for 2019. “The mix of different activities we undertook last year really contributed to our success,” Marr said as he provided an overview on port activities. Looking at the traditional cargoes first, Marr noted that log volumes have slowed a bit overall on the coast but that Nanaimo continues to have a good market share of the business. U.S.-bound scrap steel barge traffic remained consistent at the Port’s Duke Point RORO ramp; Marr projects that once project cargoes start to increase,
30 — BC Shipping News — September 2019
the diversity of vessel and barge infrastructure at Duke Point will continue to be an attractive option for shippers. Container movements in the first half of 2019 remained stable and, barring any monthly variabilities, Marr expected to see the trend continue. The big news for Nanaimo however was in the new commodities and planned expansions that promise to significantly increase throughput for the Vancouver Island port. With the introduction of the BC Vehicle Processing Centre in early 2019, Marr reported that the operation was going extremely well. So well that service provider Western Stevedoring and the Port are looking at other potential equipment manufacturers to add to the existing
base. “The Centre is currently providing 20 to 40 jobs but that will increase to 80 to 100 jobs once a second phase expands the footprint to add more capacity. This is proving to be a good solution for auto manufacturers who are facing logistical issues across the country,” said Marr, adding that moving the vehicles by short-sea shipping to the Lower Mainland has created efficiencies for truck carriers that would have otherwise gone back to the Lower Mainland empty. More big news for the Port came with the announcement of a $46.2-million investment from the federal government toward the $100-million project to expand facilities at Duke Point. Along with partners DP World, existing space will be paved before adding additional infrastructure and increasing the length of berth face from 182 metres to 325 metres. It is expected that design plans and construction will take about two years to complete. “This is in keeping with our original concept that we did a few years ago where we added a barge berth serviced by our mobile harbour crane when our dock is otherwise occupied,” he said, noting that the increased flexibility within their existing footprint will allow for both a barge and a ship to dock at the same berth. “We’ll also be replacing the old gantry crane with two newer ones, giving us three cranes in total (one mobile) that will be available for project cargo as well. “The new structure will allow us to increase our short-sea shipping activity over time as well as create the potential to bring container vessels into Nanaimo.” With diversity as a driver for development in Nanaimo, Marr felt that providing solutions for customers that helped them avoid the congestion of Vancouver would be a win-win for all. “We’re trying to compliment activities in Vancouver,” he said, “and if we’re able to assist by providing solutions that move cargo faster, more efficiently and in some cases, more economically, we’re contributing to growth for the whole region as well as the whole country.” Indeed, the Port’s fortunes are being realized within the community and Marr is seeing a stronger, more cohesive partnership with local stakeholders. “We’ve worked hard to maintain our relationships with community partners at all levels,” he said. “One concern from residents in the past has been the anchorages in the area and
B.C. PORTS
Expanded Berth Face
The Port of Nanaimo, DP World and the federal government are partnering to invest in added capacity for Duke Point. we try to respond as promptly as possible to deal with any light or noise impacts. But those are common issues for ports around the world. Other than that, we have been enjoying a great partnership with the overall community.” That partnership includes working together on tourism-related initiatives. While cruise stats were down for 2019, 2020 will see seven visits to Nanaimo’s world-class Welcome Centre. “Tourismrelated organizations and local business committees are taking the lead in terms of promoting Nanaimo as a tourist destination and the Port is there to support those initiatives as well as organize the logistics of visits,” said Marr. When asked if he was able to provide a forecast for activities during the remainder of 2019, Marr believes it will be “about the same as 2018 in terms of volumes — but obviously, auto volumes will significantly increase overall throughput.” However, a number of factors will come into play. For example, labour issues at Western Forest Products as well as how the fire season plays out for the forestry sector could impact volumes moving through the Port. Marr also described efforts that will be required to balance between ongoing operations and the development of Duke Point.
Marr named President of Association of Pacific Ports
P
ort of Nanaimo CEO Ian Marr has been elected President of the Association of Pacific Ports (APP). Marr, who was named CEO of the Port of Nanaimo last fall, was chosen to head the APP at its 106th Annual Conference July 14-17 in Portland, Oregon. Nanaimo will host the event in 2020, from August 9-12. The Association of Pacific Ports (APP) is a trade and information association founded in 1913 as the Pacific Coast Association of Port Authorities (PCAPA) for the purpose of promoting increased efficiency and effectiveness of the ports of the Pacific. There are currently 27 members of the APP and 47 associate members, from Canada, the United States (Washington, Oregon, California and Hawaii), and countries as far away as Tonga and Taiwan. “This is a great honour, and I look forward to serving as President of this great association,” says Marr. “We’re very excited about hosting this event next year in Nanaimo, and we expect over 60 delegates from our membership from all over the Pacific region to join us here.” Marr, Director of Communications David Mailloux and Executive Assistant to the President and CEO Arlene Rolston made a presentation at the Portland gathering to invite members to attend the 2020 Conference. There have been two other presidents of the APP from Nanaimo: Don Beaton in 1985-86, and Gino Sedola in 1995-96. September 2019 — BC Shipping News — 31
B.C. PORTS Port Alberni Port Authority
A growing number of sectors within the maritime cluster that are being successfully established in the City of Port Alberni are keeping CEO Zoran Knezevic and his team busy at the Port Alberni Port Authority (PAPA). Starting with cruise, Port Alberni successfully hosted three visits from Holland America’s Maasdam this year with overwhelmingly positive feedback from all involved. Attracting cruise to Port Alberni has taken on a momentum that started even before the ship arrived. “We engaged the Aquila Group who had helped St. John’s, New Brunswick, develop their cruise industry,” said Knezevic. “We brought them here to conduct a two-day workshop where they shared their knowledge and experiences
32 — BC Shipping News — September 2019
Still more positive news for Port Alberni is the success story of Thunderbird Spirit Water. Produced by the Uchucklesaht Tribe Government, the bottled water is being recognized internationally for its quality... in other markets and then provided some advice on how we could move forward as a community.” Over 30 key players from Port Alberni, representing business, government, tourism-related organizations, First Nations and others, attended the workshop and within days, a cruise committee was established. While the committee’s first task was to ensure successful visits this year, they have a long-term goal to develop and grow the
sector in the future. Knezevic is looking to secure funds for a community cruise coordinator that can lead the initiative. “We believe there is significant potential here and will be working with the community to attract more ships to the region,” he said, adding that the Chamber of Commerce, the City of Port Alberni and First Nations have been great advocates for the initiative. Next on the maritime cluster list for Knezevic is Port Alberni’s growing seafood
B.C. PORTS
A traditional First Nation welcome as the MS Maasdam enters into Port Alberni's harbour. he said. “We are also just putting final touches on a lease agreement for a company to process oysters and we are working with another company who plans to harvest and
Photo: Dave Roels
processing sector. “In addition to the Raw Spirit now calling Port Alberni home, the Viking Enterprise is getting ready to bring their catch here to be offloaded as well,”
Photo courtesy Port Alberni Port Authority/Chris Pouget
process seaweed here. We’re quite happy with our achievements in attracting seafood processors and see additional growth of this sector for the future.”
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B.C. PORTS The Raw Spirit and the Viking Enterprise also provide an opportunity to support the next maritime cluster being worked on by PAPA — that of ship building and repair. Knezevic sees great potential for commercial fishing vessels, recreational boats, BC Ferries, and naval and coast guard vessels to use facilities in Port Alberni. “We secured funds from the Province, the City and Canadian Maritime Engineering (CME) to conduct a business case for a floating drydock facility to expand the ship building and repair industry in Port Alberni.” Knezevic said. “Organizations like BC Ferries, the Department of National Defence and other stakeholders have expressed support for the idea. Port Alberni is a great location and we have a willing and experienced partner in CME who already operates here and has expanded their facilities recently with a new warehouse and other upgrades.” Knezevic further reported that CME has already received orders for new smaller vessels and barges and is working with PAPA to engage both provincial and federal governments for assistance in bringing
34 — BC Shipping News — September 2019
in the floating drydock. “We met with the Honourable Bruce Ralston, Minister of Jobs, Trade and Technology, as well as the Member of Parliament for Port Alberni, Gord Johns, and both were very excited about the idea which could bring up to 300 jobs to the region,” he said. In addition to ship building and repair, Knezevic also indicated there was the potential for salvage operations, given the number of government vessels to be scrapped over the next decade as the fleet renewal program for the Royal Canadian Navy and Canadian Coast Guard gets underway. Still more positive news for Port Alberni is the success story of Thunderbird Spirit Water. Produced by the Uchucklesaht Tribe Government, the bottled water is being recognized internationally for its quality and is about to start shipping up to 30 containers per month to Asia. The company has a lease to install and operate their bottling facility in one of PAPA’s warehouses and should be in production by the fall. Given the success of Thunderbird Spirit Water along with that of both the Raw
Spirit and the Viking Enterprise, Knezevic believes there is a good argument for a container ship to start visiting the Port. “We’ll have upwards of 150 containers each month that are being sent to Asia,” he said. “At that volume, it would make sense to have a container ship stop here.” And speaking of containers, the PAPA team continues to push forward on the Port Alberni Trans-shipment Hub Container Terminal (PATH) having recently signed an agreement with the Chinese Young Entrepreneurs Association in Victoria who have been actively working to attract investors. More and more, Knezevic is seeing the need for a regional strategy for Canada’s West Coast and believes PATH is a good solution for some of the issues facing transportation logistics here in B.C. “We need a long-term strategy to move things forward,” he said, noting that Vancouver Island is a significant economy in its own right and should have more options available that could open up the Island’s potential. BCSN
WATERFRONT
Waterfront offers rare industrial opportunity on the North Shore
W
hen the Waterfront property came on the market in 2017 it caught the attention of Wesbild — the real estate subsidiary of Persis Holdings Ltd. Located between Fibreco and Vancouver Wharves on the North Shore, Wesbild took possession of Waterfront in May 2017 and began to explore ways to intensify the industrial usages on the site. “We saw an underutilized industrial property with great potential to become so much more than it currently is,” said Derek Read, Vice-President, Development and Construction. Wesbild envisions Waterfront as an important hub for port industrial users and is currently looking to industry for input and ideas including exploration of purchase, build and lease opportunities.
Background
Perhaps best known for founding and growing Future Shop before its sale to Best Buy, Persis has made substantial investments in several sectors including land development, commercial real estate,
Wesbild envisions Waterfront as an important hub for port industrial users and is currently looking to industry for input and ideas including exploration of purchase, build and lease opportunities. pharmaceutical royalties, entertainment royalties and retail. Established in 1981 by Persis, Wesbild Holdings Ltd. has created numerous master-planned communities and shopping centres. Key highlights of their portfolio have included Pinetree Village and Westwood Plateau in Coquitlam, Station Square in Burnaby, The Foothills at Burke Mountain in Coquitlam and Predator Ridge in B.C.’s Okanagan Valley. While Waterfront in the District of North Vancouver is the first industrial development project the company has undertaken, the core principles and goals remain the same — to create an inviting, thoughtfully designed centre that brings people and businesses together.
“We’re actively seeking to acquire additional industrial property,” says Read. “Given the lack of supply in the Metro Vancouver market for industrial land, we’re looking to be one of the local leaders in intensifying industrial usage to address the distribution needs of suppliers who need to be as close to city cores as they can for faster and more efficient delivery logistics.”
Current operations at Waterfront
When Wesbild acquired the Waterfront property, the purchase included the acquisition of two operating businesses already on the site — Lions Gate Mini Storage and Lions Gate Marina. “We are planning to continue to own and operate both,” said
Photo courtesy Wesbild
Situated between Fibreco and Vancouver Wharves, Waterfront offers a rare opportunity for industrial users looking for water and rail access on the North Shore. September 2019 — BC Shipping News — 35
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Ardeshir Yeganegi, Director of Business Development, adding that, with the ability to reposition tenants, the goal will be to optimize locations of both to facilitate additional businesses. The Mini Storage, with over 1,100 lockers, is the largest on the North Shore and provides a convenient location for individual storage needs and local companies who use the facility for warehousing. Lions Gate Marina provides dry storage for recreational boats and has a yard — including a 45-tonne lift — that provides key services for both recreational and light commercial vessels. “Organizations like Western Canada Marine Response Corporation, the Royal Canadian Marine Search and Rescue, Vancouver Police Department and Vancouver Port Security use the location for quick access to the First Narrows area of Vancouver Harbour as well as for commercial services,” said Yeganegi. “And since the acquisition, we have made substantial improvements to the marina and recently achieved the ecocertification by Georgia Strait Alliance’s Clean Marine BC Program.” Improvements to its oil recycling facilities and waste recycling program, as well as the installation of more efficient lighting and implementation of Clean Marine BC’s spill training to assist with the planning, preparation and response to small-scale marine spills on their docks has resulted in a four-anchor rating for the facility. In addition to the two businesses owned by Wesbild, Waterfront is also home to Lafarge Canada, Burley Boys and Creative Bricks ‘n’ Blocks, with additional marinerelated manufacturing and service providers already on-site.
A vision for Waterfront
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www.flygmt.com 36 — BC Shipping News — September 2019
Wesbild’s proposal to intensify the usage of the Waterfront site embraces the vision of creating an industrial work community of marine and port-servicing businesses. Current proposed plans include sub-dividing the site to bring large industrial land parcels to market, including build to suit opportunities, and to allow port industrial users of all sizes an opportunity to be located near water, rail and key North Shore businesses such as Seaspan, Fibreco, Neptune and Kinder Morgan’s Vancouver Wharves. “We see an opportunity for port oriented and local industrial small and medium size businesses to stay and expand on the North Shore. These businesses have been squeezed
out of the market given the scarcity of industrial land.” says Read. “Waterfront’s prime location in the Vancouver Harbour provides proximity to all of the North Shore and Metro Vancouver along with exceptional views of Stanley Park, Downtown Vancouver and the North Shore Mountains. The type of companies that Read believes would find a great benefit of located at Waterfront range from current marine services, heavy industrial, storage facilities, warehousing, manufacturing as well as support offices and more. “Our goal is to create an innovative maritime hub that can support North Shore and Vancouver Harbour industrial operations,” he said, adding that the timeline for development would likely span 10 to 15 years and support as many as 500 to 1,000 jobs. Wesbild has undertaken extensive community consultation to ensure transparency on plans for the property and plans to continue to engage with the local community as their proposal moves forward.
Next steps
Given the rare opportunity to be a part of one of the last waterfront properties in Vancouver Harbour, Read is encouraging marine-related businesses to contact him to learn more about Waterfront. “Our track record on developing creative, innovative hubs — whether for commercial, residential, recreational or industrial uses — speaks for itself and we’re excited about the potential that this site holds.” While there is no rezoning requirement given that the property already had an industrial designation and is part of the North Vancouver’s Official Community Plan, Wesbild is currently working with the District to gain subdivision approval under the Land Titles Act. In the meantime, the Wesbild team continues to reach out to stakeholders to provide as much information as needed. “Overall, we’ve seen positive feedback from stakeholders, including community associations and neighbouring industrial businesses,” Read said. Interested parties can contact either of the following Wesbild representatives to discuss: • Derek Read, Vice-President, Development and Construction: 604694-8828 / dread@wesbild.com. • Steve Forrest, Senior Vice-President, Real Estate: sforrest@wesbild.com.
ECONOMY Canada’s economy
Working through the scenarios
T
rying to get a fix on the global economy — and how Canada fares within it — is a task that requires great insight into world markets, trends in trade and even public sentiment and geopolitical factors. These past two years, however, the added unpredictability of U.S. policies, Brexit, increasing corporate leverage rates and a general movement toward anti-globalization have brought new meaning to the words “it depends.” BC Shipping News turned to Derek Burleton, Deputy Chief Economist for TD, who considers all of these variables and reconciles them with past performance statistics to identify current and future trends as well as risks and opportunities for Canada.
Big picture context
Starting with context for the big picture, the world economy had been growing at around four per cent year over year up to last year. “Since early 2018, the general view was that four per cent was unsustainable,” said Burleton. “We’re running out of resources — labour’s tight globally; some economies aren’t doing as well as others and there are capacity constraints. With added trade tensions, we’re forecasting expectations for 2019 to be around 3.1 per cent.” Looming large in Burleton’s economic forecasting is China. “Some are worried that China’s growth will slip below the government’s target range of six to 6.5 per cent. We’re of the view that it will be just over six per cent this year,” he said, adding that while trade tariffs are a negative factor for China’s economy, a falling currency rate and government stimulus initiatives are mitigating the impact. Burleton outlined two scenarios related to current China/U.S. trade: if talks between China and the U.S. break down and more tariffs are implemented, that could prompt a recession; on the other hand, if a deal gets done, reduced fears of a trade war would prompt more trade and a better atmosphere for growth. “We have been assuming that the outcome would be somewhere in the middle — that the two sides would reach a deal but only a limited one that would leave ongoing trade policy uncertainty. This remains our baseline view, though we are becoming less confident as the talks drag on and both sides threaten further trade actions.” When asked about the risks of a recession, Burleton did note that there’s less of a cushion to ward one off if there is a large financial shock. “The risk is higher in 2020 than it is in 2019,” he said. “U.S. growth is subsiding as the impact of the tax overhaul lessens and China won’t be seeing a return to eight per cent growth anytime soon. The world is very reliant on these two economies but there are also other issues — Brexit, corporate leverage rates, populism and anti-globalization. Overall, we see about a 35 to 40 per cent risk of a recession over the next two years.”
Trade agreements provide optimism for Canada
With Canada moving forward on a number of trade agreements — the U.S./Mexico/Canada Trade Agreement, the Trans Pacific Partnership and the Comprehensive Economic Trade Agreement — Burleton was optimistic about this country’s long-term prospects albeit took a cautious stance on current trade volumes. “While Canada/China relations are an issue right now, Canada continues to
TD's Derek Burleton, Deputy Chief Economist, and Steven Mo, Vice President, Commercial National Accounts.
Despite risks related to trade, Burleton does see bright spots on Canada’s economic landscape... move ahead on a number of fronts to establish relationships that will see the benefits of diversifying markets beyond the U.S.,” Burleton said. “There are still risks — U.S. Democrats may end up blocking ratification of the USMCA and CETA is not yet fully implemented. It’s a difficult climate right now but if we can get through the worst of these trade tensions, it will set the stage for recovery. We do see manufacturing activity globally picking up and if we can get all countries on board in favour of trade deals, from a long-term perspective, I think Canada will ultimately benefit.” Drilling deeper into Canada’s economy, Burleton still sees concerns about investment in the resource sector, especially the oil patch. “While the Trans Mountain Pipeline Expansion Project has been approved again, there is still uncertainty about when the project will get completed. And other pipeline proposals may not see the light of day,” he said, adding that there remains concern around the impact of Bill C-69, which has overhauled the environmentalimpact assessment process for resource projects. However, concerns that Burleton might have had at the beginning of the year that Canada could suffer a recession, given weak momentum and concerns around housing and household debt, have been allayed by “a lack of evidence that foreign investors are leaving Canada and inbound investment remains very stable according to Statistics Canada.” He also pointed to strong population growth, especially from immigration and foreign students attending Canadian institutions as positives for future growth. He went on to say that while the average world growth rate is running at about 3.5 per cent, Canada is averaging 1.3 per cent (British Columbia is a bit higher than that — about 1.8 to two per cent). “We’ll underperform this year but we are seeing signs of renewed momentum. Housing prices will continue to drop while housing starts and September 2019 — BC Shipping News — 37
ECONOMY home building will be something to watch in 2020. Sales will eventually stabilize but the market is still going to be oversupplied. Fiveyear mortgage rates will help and much of the recent regulations addressing non-resident/ empty homes have now been addressed,” Burleton said, while also noting that he and his team are watching the Canadian dollar.
“We’re working on the view that if trade tensions are eased, there may be an opportunity for the dollar to rally.”
Emerging industries
Despite risks related to trade, Burleton does see bright spots on Canada’s economic landscape, especially when it comes
to emerging industries. “Canada is benefitting from the emerging Cannabis, high technology and digital industries. There is a migration of technology sectors away from Silicon Valley which is running into growth constraints and you’re seeing hi-tech centres develop around the large cities in Canada.” He also noted growth in the petrochemical industry in Alberta where the government has been providing incentives for diversifying product to move up the value chain in energy. “We’re very excited to see LNG Canada move forward,” he added.
Keeping an eye on the long term
While we are currently in a period of soft global trade markets, Burleton felt it was important to keep one eye on the long term. “Trade volumes tend to work through cycles,” he said. “We’re at a period of historical slow growth and lower trade volumes but that too shall pass. It won’t be this year or even next, but as we move toward the mid-decade, we’ll get back to lowered trade barriers. The U.S. is obviously a large part of that equation however.” For Vancouver, this means addressing issues of industrial land shortage and infrastructure to be prepared for future growth. Weighing in with comments looking specifically at Vancouver, Steven Mo, TD’s Vancouverbased Vice President of National Accounts, was quick to point out that TD was tied into a number of large projects, some as part of a larger bank group in a syndicated facility. “We would definitely want to see these projects go ahead but feel it’s just going to take a bit longer before they come to fruition.”
Conclusion
There are many variables to take into account when considering what the future has in store for Canada’s economy. In addition to trade cycles, global trade tensions and geopolitical nuances, there is the upcoming Canadian federal election, carbon tax challenges, and environmental regulations and approval processes. To ask an economist as experienced as Burleton to “predict” the future economy assumes he has psychic abilities. Identifying both risks and opportunities however, Burleton and the team at TD have been able to make realistic assumptions on scenarios that could play out in the future. And of those scenarios, it was good to see rays of light for Canada’s economic well-being. BCSN
38 — BC Shipping News — September 2019
MANUFACTURING
Trusted protection for the marine industry Adam Eweida, MSc, Marine Division Manager Innovative Manufacturing Inc.
T
he shipping industry is extremely dynamic, with ship owners having to juggle many tasks at once. Ship maintenance is a vital operational component in maintaining a healthy vessel. By staying on top of maintenance and service, ship owners can have piece of mind knowing that they have provided a safe working environment for their crews, ensured compliance with safety codes and class regulations, as well as safeguarded the longevity of their vessels. At Innovative Manufacturing, we understand the importance of ensuring safe sea-going operations and have catered our products to meet the needs of vessels both at sea and berth. Innovative Manufacturing specializes in a wide range of anti-corrosion, sealing and repair products to protect clients’ ships, crew and cargo from damage and injury. Being a local company, we take pride in offering tailor-made products that meet the needs of our customers in British Columbia and beyond. With a state-of-theart R&D department, we continue to evolve our existing product lines, while exploring new product development synergies with our partners and customers.
Corrosion in the marine industry
Corrosion is defined as the gradual destruction of materials by chemical and/or electrochemical reaction with their environment. In March 2016, NACE International released an IMPACT study stating that the
global cost of corrosion is estimated to be $2.5 trillion USD, with the transportation sector accounting for roughly 20 per cent of that figure. The marine industry is especially vulnerable to corrosion as harsh ocean conditions result in compromised exposed metal surfaces. Over time, this deterioration can severely impact both assets and the individuals coming into contact with these surfaces. The IMPACT study found that implementing corrosion prevention mechanisms could lead to a result in global savings of between 15-35 per cent of the cost of the damage. Working with strategic partners throughout Canada and the U.S., Innovative Manufacturing is able to provide unique solutions to protect against the deteriorating effects of corrosion on seagoing vessels, marine pilings, and in the municipal/industrial sector. PetroWrap® is a cold-applied, anti-corrosion system of petrolatum based PetroWrap® AntiCorrosion Tape, PetroWrap® Primer, and where countering is necessary, PetroWrap® Mastic. Where physical contact is likely, PetroWrap® Overwrap should be applied covering the system. PetroWrap® can be used on a wide range of applications including protecting steel pipes, flanges and valves, fire protection and pipe and sprinkler systems, hydraulic pipes, valves and fittings as well as marine pilings. The system offers long-term protection of metal surfaces that are underground,
underwater or exposed —even in the most severe environments.
Materials and corrosion protection as marine regulations change
The new IMO regulations to reduce sulphur oxide emissions from vessels are coming into effect January 1, 2020. This will involve conforming to a new 0.5 per cent m/m (mass/mass) sulphur cap on fuel content in order to mitigate the harmful emissions from ships on the environment. The vast majority of global vessels currently use high sulphur fuel oil (HFSO) as their main marine fuel for propulsion. The challenge faced by ship owners is moving away from HFSO to a more sustainable and ‘green’ fuel. Fuel with 0.5 per cent sulphur in the form of low sulphur fuel oil (LSFO) can be used as an alternative, however, logistical challenges such as availability from refineries is a clear drawback. Furthermore, many vessels may not have been converted in order to use LSFO as an alternative. This leads to ship owners continuing to use HFSO while adding scrubber systems to reduce sulphur content. As modifications of exhaust gas systems occur, sustainable and environmentally friendly coating and insulation systems are a necessary choice to protect against corrosive environments and insulate high-temperature surfaces. In addition to implementing the PetroWrap® solution on any surface that may be susceptible to corrosion when
Featured products and class certifications associated with Innovative Manufacturing designed to protect vessels. September 2019 — BC Shipping News — 39
MANUFACTURING scrubber retrofit work is performed, ExoWrap® insulation is a crucial product to consider in order to safeguard crews at sea. ExoWrap® is a revolutionary ‘one step’ insulation system to easily insulate high temperature surfaces in vessel engine rooms. Withstanding temperatures of up to 1000°C, ExoWrap® is Lloyd's class certified and meets IMO Resolution MSC.61(67), the adoption of international codes for application of fire test procedures. ExoWrap® also meets SOLAS Regulation II – 2/15.2.10, stating that surfaces with temperatures above 220°C which may be impinged as a result of fuel system failure shall be properly insulated.
Further solutions from Innovative Manufacturing Protective Anti Splashing Tape NoSpray® Protection System is a type-approved aluminum/glass cloth jacketing system designed to prevent the flammable spray of hot oil which can come into contact with hot surfaces thus causing fires in vessel engine rooms and injury to crew. NoSpray® Anti Splashing system is available in tape format and is coated on one side with a silicone adhesive for ease of installation and superior adhesion. NoSpray® conforms with Solas Regulation II 2/15.2.11 and is fire tested in accordance with IMO Resolution A.653 (16). NoSpray® can be applied on fuel oil injection pipes, fuel and lube oil service pipes, fuel oil valve cooling pipes attached to diesel engines, flammable oil pipes, pumps and strainers as well as fuel oil heaters. Marine Hatch Tape CanSeal® is a heavy-duty hatch sealing tape with a high tack adhesive mastic and with silver backing, guaranteed to provide
extraordinary strength, adhesion and flexibility in moderate weather conditions. CanSeal® hatch tape is designed to keep out moisture and fumes from the vessel's cargo and provides weather resistance to salt and marine conditions. High Temperature Pipe Dressing SteamKote® is a proprietary non-flammable high temperature coating formulated to protect against corrosion on steam pipes, valves and deck equipment. SteamKote® forms a flexible ‘skin’ when cured that will not crack, peel or harden even under harsh marine conditions. SteamKote® is the only pipe dressing in the market which is nonflammable. This makes the product safer to use and easier to store. Emergency Pipe Repair Kit CanFix® Emergency Repair Kit is a complete system for making emergency repairs to a wide variety of pipe materials. CanFix® consists of a patented fiberglass cloth impregnated with water-activated resin that sets in minutes with no measuring, mixing, or messy cleanup. Approved and used by the Canadian and US Navy and Coast Guard, CanFix® has proved itself invaluable when surfaces are compromised at sea. The solution can be used on riser exhaust, leaking hydraulic lines, water cooling hoses and fluid lines, leaking steam lines and fittings, corrosion protection coating, and emergency repairs to fuel lines.
Adam Eweida (MSc) the Marine Division Manager at Innovative Manufacturing has been active in the marine market since 2007. Adam has been involved with engine room equipment sales, logistics and maintenance repair in both Canada and Sweden. Adam can be reached at adam@innovativemfg.ca.
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40 — BC Shipping News — September 2019
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SUPPLY CHAINS
Stopping supply chain slavery in Canada By Darryl Anderson
Managing Director, Wave Point Consulting
H
as Canada been slower than other countries to engage in the global discussion about stopping modern slavery in international supply chains? According to the Canadian authors of a May 2019 report, entitled, The Straight Goods: Canadian Business Insights on Modern Slavery in Supply Chains, the answer is yes.
Modern slavery in international supply chains
International law does not define the term “modern slavery.” The concept is used frequently to include the clearly defined ideas of forced labour (including bonded labour, slavery and human trafficking) and child labour. Research demonstrates that the lower levels of global supply chains, where natural resource inputs are farmed, mined, fished and processed by workers who are often regarded as unseen and superfluous, are especially in danger of being caught up in modern slavery. World Vision Canada’s report, entitled Canada’s Child and Forced Labour Problem identified over $34 billion of Canadian imports annually that were at a high risk of having been made by a child or forced labour. More than 1,200 firms operating in Canada were identified as having imported one or more of these high-risk products. Both public and privately held companies ranging from small and mid-sized to multinational corporations were involved in international supply chains. These enterprises represent almost every sector and supply chain stage. The Global Slavery Index - Country Study Canada documents the top five Canadian imports which are vulnerable to being made or sourced under conditions of modern slavery. Canadian imports of laptops, computers and mobile phones from China and Malaysia are at the top of the list. Clothing and apparel sourced from several
World Vision Canada’s report ... identified over $34 billion of Canadian imports annually that were at a high risk of having been made by a child or forced labour. countries are second on the list. Canadian gold imports from Peru are in third place — a problem that may be less visible than other products on the list. Nevertheless, workers in the illegal gold mining industry in Peru find themselves trapped in debt-bondagelike conditions. They also have to repay disproportionate amounts of money owing to recruiters, and workers being pressured by possible violence when they endeavour to leave the mines. Imported seafood into Canada is also suspected of having modern slavery within international fishing industries. Sugarcane imported from the Brazilian industry is another product considered to be at risk of using modern slavery and rounds out the top five goods.
Legislative approach adopted by other nations
With the ever-increasing opportunities and complexity associated with international trade, no supply chain tier is immune to the risks of being caught up in the web of modern slavery. However, is there also a business case for Canadian firms to support legislation that would address the issue? Ms. Delaney Greig, Manager Engagement and Policy, Shareholder Association for Research and Education (SHARE) stated: “Beyond the moral imperative that we end the egregious human rights abuses of forced labour, human trafficking and child labour, SHARE sees a clear investor and business case for legislation at this time to derisk supply chains and facilitate long-term certainty.” Ms. Greig also observed that “well-crafted legislation would establish an enabling environment for preventative
action by investors and companies to address human rights risks in global supply chains, rather than responding to issues after the fact (often including in the media or courts). A legislative standard levels the playing-field across companies by providing a common standard for due diligence and disclosure.” The first example of reporting legislation is the Californian Transparency and Supply Chains Act of 2010, followed by the UK Modern Slavery Act 2015 supply chains clause and, more recently, Australia’s Modern Slavery Act 2018. Firms that do business in each jurisdiction (and also meet a specific financial threshold) are required to publicly report on their efforts to address modern slavery issues in their global supply chains. However, each jurisdiction’s legislation has a different definition of modern slavery, and reporting and frequency of reporting requirements. Nevertheless, a consistent international approach is based on the premise that increased transparency and reporting will lead to greater accountability. Ultimately, more significant consumer and legislative action and enforcement in all tiers of international supply chains will also occur. Mandatory human rights due diligence legislation such as France’s 2017 Corporate Duty of Vigilance Law, in addition to requiring public reporting, creates an obligation for very large companies based in the country to proactively conduct due diligence on the full range of human rights issues in their operations and supply chains. The legislation also provides for potential civil liability if it can be demonstrated that a firm’s failure to adequately comply with the law caused harm to a third party. September 2019 — BC Shipping News — 41
SUPPLY CHAINS Canada’s response to modern slavery in international supply chains
In October 2018, the Canadian House of Commons Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs released a report entitled A Call to Action: Ending the Use of All Forms of Child Labour in Supply Chains. The sub-committee collected evidence from the private sector, government officials, non-government organizations and labour representatives. The report’s sixth recommendation called for the federal government to develop legislative and policy initiatives to prompt firms to eliminate the use of modern slavery in their supply chains. The Honourable John McKay P.C., M.P., in a written statement prepared for BC Shipping News, stated: “In 2017, Prime Minister Trudeau and other G20 leaders committed to eliminating forced labour by 2025. This past June, the G7 hosted a socially responsible business meeting, which further confirmed the importance of tangible action. While many of Canada’s G20 partners have taken concrete steps in
combatting forced labour by introducing forms of modern slavery legislation, Canada has yet to do the same. This is not to say that zero progress has been made on the file, but at this time the approach is minimal and lagging.” In response to a House of Commons report, Mr. McKay introduced Private Member’s Bill C-423, or the Modern Slavery Bill, in Parliament on December 13, 2018. The legislation’s purpose is to implement Canada’s international commitment to confirm supply chain transparency and contribute to the fight against modern slavery. The Act requires companies that have assets of over $20 million and revenues over $40 million to ensure that their supply chains are transparent and free of goods produced by slavery if they wish to do business in Canada.
Conclusion
Ms. Greig noted that “Canada is somewhat lagging” in addressing the problem of modern slavery in international supply chains. “Peer jurisdictions, including California, the U.K., France, Netherlands
and Australia already have legislation in place. This means that many Canadian companies are (or will be) captured directly or indirectly by a patchwork of legislation elsewhere, without the opportunity to define what an effective regime looks like for us.” The Honourable John McKay expressed hope that all political parties will make the topic of stopping modern slavery in the supply chain a matter of discussion and commitment during the upcoming federal election campaign. Maritime transportation firms and ports are the beneficiaries of increased international trade. Thus, readers of BC Shipping News are encouraged to contribute to the national and international conversation and put forward their perspective on the most effective way to address the issue from a Canadian legislative, business and consumer perspective. Darryl Anderson is a strategy, trade development, logistics and transportation consultant. His blog Shipping Matters focuses on maritime transportation and policy issues. He can be reached at wavepoint@shaw.ca.
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SUPPLY CHAINS
Real-time, efficient tracking optimizes Canada's supply chain By Corrie Banks Director, Logistics, Cando Rail Services
T
he advancement of technology in today’s world presents opportunities for supply chain managers to collect data faster, more reliably, automatically and cost-effectively. The fourth industrial revolution of technological innovation has created opportunities to track, measure, analyze and improve our operations at much lower costs than yesterday. The days of technology implementations that take several years to achieve are gone. With new agile development, open source code and collaboration in the technology world, you can get data more quickly than ever before. Technology-driven optimization is changing how we manage our supply chains, bringing down barriers and creating completely integrated ecosystems that are fully transparent with all the players involved. Those who move quickly to adopt advanced technology for their supply chain will gain efficiencies, develop new business models with corresponding revenue streams; all while creating new competitive advantages. Steve Liang, PhD., CTO of SensorUp says “Think about something, and then think about tracking that thing using a little digital sensor, and then think about some kid in his garage developing that thing. That kid is going to eat your lunch.” What Steve means is that it doesn’t take millions of dollars and research labs to innovate anymore. Access to creating innovative technology has created opportunities that we haven’t even thought about yet. To the supply chain, this means that collecting data in the field, tracking shipments, tracking people and tracking packages are being done with low-cost sensors that send data to the cloud in real-time. We no longer track shipments using paper; use high administration to manage that paper; or experience long delays investigating,
Technology-driven optimization is changing how we manage our supply chains, bringing down barriers and creating completely integrated ecosystems that are fully transparent with all the players involved. disputing and resolving issues within the supply chain. Now, we’re collecting data in real-time within minutes of the event. The question is, what to do with all that data? As a provider of specialized rail services for more than 40 years, Cando Rail Services helps industrial customers move bulk materials across their supply chains and has recognized the need for the industry to acquire accurate, timely data. In the rail industry, there are several factors restricting supply chain growth including tight labour supply, infrastructure capacity constraints, 1960s technology and visibility gaps. The implementation of technology that automates, expedites and provides more detail will solve several of the constraints to growth. Better, faster, automated data will enable supply chain managers to do more with fewer labour resources. At Cando, we believe that access to better data will highlight unknown or unforeseen issues and enable our partners and customers to improve their supply chain. Because of this, we have been working on a supply chain optimization platform called Quasar.
Quasar: The future of supply chain management
Quasar is a secure, cloud-based platform that allows users to track the location and movement of their railcar assets in real-time, visualize their supply chain from origin to destination and optimize network health. The full Quasar platform includes yard
management, shipment visibility, car storage, activity-based costing, alerts, metrics and prescriptive analytics. Quasar is designed to capture your operational data, calculate the costs of your supply chain real-time and then enable our customers to analyze their data without needing a data science degree. Supply chain management has stepped into the new era of the digital economy and Canada’s supply chain processes must utilize advanced technology in order to thrive. In a complex, globalized, digital economy, we need new solutions to position Canada as a supply chain of the future. We believe Quasar will play a significant role in optimizing our supply chain and bringing the industry forward. We’ve seen some big holes that needed to be filled to create a more integrated, more networked supply chain in Canada. Quasar aims to make it easier to adopt technology that addresses our challenges. The platform has been tested in real working environments in the Canadian supply chain with positive results. With Quasar, the future of supply chain management is here, and we’re excited to share it. Corrie Banks was recently recognized as one of the 100 most influential women in the Canadian supply chain. Corrie has worked for Canadian Pacific Railway, Canadian Pacific Logistics Solutions, Parmalat Canada, Triskele Logistics and currently works for Cando Rail Services leading their supply chain optimization platform. She can be reached at Corrie.Banks@candorail.com. September 2019 — BC Shipping News — 43
SPILL RESPONSE Spill response planning
Past, progress but not yet public By Trevor Heaver, Professor Emeritus University of British Columbia
T
...after the absence of local consultation in planning was so vividly revealed by the MV Marathassa spill in Vancouver in 2015, a new direction in planning was required, consistent with established practice elsewhere. …only when local citizens are involved in the process will the trust develop that is necessary to change the present system from confrontation to consensus.” (I wonder how attitudes in Vancouver might be if this policy had been followed here 29 years ago.) The result was the formation of regional Advisory Councils in Alaska and Area Committees (ACs) in the rest of the U.S. While the US Coast Guard is the designated lead response agency for planning and response for navigable waters, ACs — comprised of members from federal, state, and local governments and agencies, as well as representatives from indigenous peoples, industry, ports, environmental organizations, and others — are responsible
Photo: Ship-source Oil Pollution Fund
his article is based on my prior studies of spill response in ports and access to the Greater Vancouver Regional Response Plan (GVIRP) readily provided to me by the Canadian Coast Guard (CCG). However, the GVIRP is not a ‘public document,’ a point I will come back to later. In 2019, it is still necessary to go back to 1989 to set in context where we are today in spill response planning in Canada. It was the grounding of the Exxon Valdez in Prince William Sound, Alaska that year that led to global action on spills. The action subsequently taken in Canada placed us on a different path than other countries. In the U.S., the passage of the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA 90) not only set in motion the shift to double-hull tankers, it also established American behaviour in spill response planning. This is guided by section 5002 (2) which deals with Prince William Sound. It states: “…involve local citizens in the process of preparing, adopting, and revising oil spill contingency plans;
Following the MV Marathassa incident, work began on the the Greater Vancouver Regional Response Plan. 44 — BC Shipping News — September 2019
for developing contingency plans, evaluating their implementation and maintaining them through a continuous improvement process. Under the Civil Contingencies Act in the U.K., local agencies are charged with response to civil emergencies as far as possible. These local agencies are required to gain advice from environmental groups of government and non-governmental organizations and to achieve multi-agency cooperation through Local Resilience Forums which bring together senior representatives of the emergency services, local authorities, community organizations and others. In Canada, following the Brander-Smith Panel of 1990, extensive discussions between the government and the private sector (the oil industry) led to a unique regime. Under it, major oil companies formed Response Organizations (ROs) funded by a levy on oil traded by ship and by contracts with those desiring or required to have contracts that ensure spill response capability. In Western Canada, the RO is the Western Canada Marine Response Corporation (WCMRC). Transport Canada sets out operating standards to which ROs must comply. The CCG is the lead agency. The resulting policy was heavily focused on ensuring operating capacity in spill response. While the on-thewater response of WCMRC (and I believe other Canadian ROs) has been ‘world class,’ the same cannot be said for the planning process. There was virtually no consultation with local communities, to whom the plans to protect their interests should ‘belong.’
SPILL RESPONSE So, after the absence of local consultation in planning was so vividly revealed by the MV Marathassa spill in Vancouver in 2015, a new direction in planning was required, consistent with established practice elsewhere — 25 years is a measure of the catchup required! The GVIRP is an area plan as defined by the Marine Spills Contingency Plan – National Chapter. In spite of the name, the current plan only covers the waters of the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority from English Bay to Indian Arm, although discussions are underway to extend it to the Fraser River. It is an operational plan to clarify the roles and responsibilities of principal organizations, including the polluter, in response to a spill. The development of the GVIRP was launched with a three-day planning session in October 2015 for federal, First Nations, provincial and local government representatives and other partners. The first version of the plan was signed off in July 2017. The process was long because many of the participants were not familiar with spill response planning and did not know each other. Also, the meetings took place at a
A significant issue associated with the GVIRP is the level of public knowledge and, linked to this, the level of community engagement. time when provincial planning was calling on the participation of similar people. The resulting document includes much more explanatory text than normal in an operational plan. This is expected to be reduced in revisions to the document. The most important test for the GVIRP is the advance it has achieved in spill response planning and action; but some gain was not hard to achieve. The process to establish the GVIRP has undeniably resulted in better communication among those involved. This has apparently guided improved performance in a number of response exercises but the results are not in public documents. The exercises are both to train those involved so that correct actions can be taken quickly and to identify shortcomings and ways that they can be overcome. Resulting changes to the GVIRP are not known but a major revision to the document is needed
(and, I understand, planned) to make it a more focused and concise manual for spill response. The CCG worked with the ‘local community’ in developing the plan but basically with ‘governmental’ (including First Nations) and maritime groups. The Marine Emergency Response Coordination Committees (MERCC), formed in 2013 by the CCG in conjunction with Port Metro Vancouver to improve on-water coordination and communication for safety and search and rescue, now has a sub-committee to support the GVIRP process. However, this does not widen community input. The GVIRP does not make the availability of scientific expertise as evident as might be desired. In response planning and during a response, the ready availability of sufficient science expertise in addition to critical local knowledge can be vital. Participation
September 2019 — BC Shipping News — 45
SPILL RESPONSE of science expertise from the National Environmental Emergencies Centre is cited but its expertise and roles, and those of Environment and Climate Change Canada and the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, should be more explicit. The only private science-based organization listed is the Vancouver Aquarium although the Oiled Wildlife Society of B.C. is mentioned as a resource available during a spill event. A significant issue associated with the GVIRP is the level of public knowledge and, linked to this, the level of community engagement. Publication is good practice as knowledge can mitigate issues in the event of a spill, for example, by reducing the number of untrained individuals seeking access to a contaminated beach.
Publication informs the public about protective measures in the event of a spill; the mere fact that information is published often increases public confidence. Unlike the U.K., the U.S. and the NEB for Oil Handling Facilities, there is no national requirement that plans be made public. While it is understood that the GVIRP will be made public, the publication of response plans should be mandatory. Publication of results from major exercises (assessments) of plans might also be helpful. Publication remains subject to limits to protect personal information and ‘sensitive’ information. Publication is also a way to enhance community engagement. Response plans are designed to protect property and
societal values. They may be developed under the leadership of CCG and exercised by the RO and other response organizations such as the police, but they ‘belong’ to the community that they protect. The GVIRP is a step in the right direction through more effective involvement of local governments but the public is effectively excluded. This is not the case in the U.S. or the U.K. where the Area Committees and Local Resilience Forums respectively allow an effective voice for non-governmental organizations. The equivalent of Area Committees would provide a forum for the identification and discussion of local conditions and concerns and provide a forum for effective input to the development of response plans. It is notable that the GVIRP does not mention priorities for areas to protect nor does it deal with the matter of different end points in clean up for different types of location. While actual conditions such as tides and winds affect judgements about what can be achieved and, therefore, the best actions to take, recognition of priorities is an important guide to resource allocation. A principle in planning is to recognize priorities and end points and to offer as much guidance as possible to decision makers to avoid unnecessarily long discussions under crisis conditions when time is critical. While Annex C documents the role that Geographic Response Strategies (GRS) are playing in differentiating sensitivities in specific locations, the GVIRP leaves decisions regarding protection priorities to operations field staff. Hopefully such choices will not be necessary but it is better to agree on general priorities in the planning stage than face trade-off discussions under emergency conditions Of course, community engagement and the publication of plans come with an obligation to respond to reactions and with the costs of doing so. However, the processes have been shown elsewhere to improve plans and, perhaps, as suggested in OPA, shift attitudes from confrontation to consensus. We live in hope. Professor Trevor Heaver is a member of the green shipping research project led by UBC with base funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.
46 — BC Shipping News — September 2019
MARINE RESPONSE West Coast marine response
Leaning and looking forward By K. Joseph Spears
B
Prior to the mid-2000s when the Enbridge Northern Gateway project was proposed, marine response did not warrant much public debate or concern. overseeing marine response as just one element of shipping governance and very much of Canada’s technical nature. In addition, there was also an agreed voluntary tanker exclusion zone off Canada’s West Coast. American-flagged tankers carried North Slope crude from Valdez, Alaska, to Puget Sound and California and stayed well off Canada’s coastline. Marine response mostly attracted the attention of a small group of marine professionals involved in this subset of marine operations. The practitioners were not a large group. There were few actual incidents over the past. The system worked. Marine response on the West Coast had
essentially flown under the radar because of the lack of incidents. There have been no major pollution incidents on the West Coast since oil from the oil barge Neustacca covered the beaches of Tofino on Vancouver Island in 1989 and of course the Exxon Valdez earlier that year. All that changed in 2012 with the application to twin the pipeline that carries Alberta oilsands’ bitumen to Trans Mountain’s Westridge Terminal in Vancouver Harbour. Tankers were not new to the Port of Vancouver in 2012. The first oil refinery in Port Moody was constructed in 1909. For 100 years, marine tankers were common in
From the archives of Dave Roels
C Shipping News has been at the forefront of discussions on the important subject of marine response over the last decade and has served as a chamber of sober second thought on this and many other marine issues. From the first issue, Jane McIvor has afforded me the privilege of writing on these issues, to raise awareness and discussion and make Canada’s West Coast OceanStrong. It is important that industry work to have an open discussion with a wider public audience and create strong transparent shipping governance that is important for British Columbia’s economic future. There is a need to be vigilant with respect to low probability / high consequence events from marine shipping. In my final article, I want to address some thoughts on West Coast marine response, leaning and looking forward. Nine years ago when Jane published the first edition of BC Shipping News, marine response was not given much public and/or media attention. It was very much a success story because of the lack of any major incidents and prompt response to minor incidents with government and private interests working together. Canada’s system of pollution response based on the polluter pays principle was working but it had never been stress tested with a major incident. Prior to the mid-2000s when the Enbridge Northern Gateway project was proposed, marine response did not warrant much public debate or concern. It was rarely the subject of public or media comment. There had been various incidents up and down the coast with vessel sinkings, strandings and bunkering issues but they were very much on the decline and mostly involved small vessels that were easily addressed. The government of Canada, via the lead agency, the Canadian Coast Guard, took a federal monitoring role
Prior to Trans Mountain's application to twin its pipeline, public awareness of potential marine risks was low. September 2019 — BC Shipping News — 47
MARINE RESPONSE Vancouver Harbour. In early 2010, meetings of the Greater Vancouver Regional District (now Metro Vancouver) Port committee addressed marine response and the issue of a six-hour response time by Western Canada Marine Response Corporation, the designated Response Organization, which was in compliance with the provisions of the Canada Shipping Act, 2001. At the time, there was a public outcry because of the lengthy response time to an oil spill in Vancouver Harbour. The reality was that the response time was, in fact, much quicker. Since the mid-2000s, there have been numerous projects put forth for export of energy resources from Canada. As a result of the regulatory process and public and media attention, the issue of marine response has become highly politicized with opinions being rendered, often from those with no background in actual marine response and/or marine risk. Marine traffic increased as these and other shipping activities increased on Canada’s West Coast. For example, the Trans Mountain Expansion Project will see one loaded tanker depart daily. The National Energy Board imposed various conditions in the main and subsequent rulings on marine tankers from Trans Mountain’s terminal which are in addition to the existing Canadian regulatory process. The marine
...the issue of marine response has become highly politicized with opinions being rendered, often from those with no background in actual marine response and/or marine risk. risk increases with increased traffic of all marine activities in coastal waters which we share with the United States in Puget Sound and the Strait of Juan de Fuca. What can we glean from the last 10 years moving forward with respect to marine response in a highly publicized politically charged environment? Firstly, we need to depoliticize it and work on fact-based issues and recognize that there is risk. In my view, the key is that we need to focus on the fact that marine response is, while federally led, a local duty. We need to work together to bring into play all the various parties that respond to a marine incident. It is a complex group of interests thrown together in real time. The polluter pays concept is a good one however, looking at intervention into marine incidents by the Government of Canada, we are seeing a developing trend. This was set out in the 2014 Tanker Review Panel Volume 2 (https://www.tc.gc.ca/ media/documents/mosprr/TC-TankerE-P2.pdf): Chapter 3 looked at Marine Casualty Management which requires potential intervention by government. We
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48 — BC Shipping News — September 2019
need to focus on the lead up to an incident before any pollutants are discharged. The two recent emergency towing vessels are a step in the right direction but they require a context of operations so that they can be used in proper fashion. The Canadian Coast Guard is presently undertaking work on casualty management and intervention. What I see as one of the most important issues as we move forward in the future is the requirement to include coastal communities and First Nations in a meaningful way into the marine response regime. The 2016 Oceans Protection Plan provides a framework but we need to go well beyond this preliminary framework. We must look holistically at marine risks posed by environmental factors and marine traffic. This is best done through a series of dialogue and discussions on a continuous basis — open to all — based on low probability / high consequence pollution events. We need to hold both tabletop and realtime exercises led by independent experts to highlight gaps in our response capabilities. We shouldn’t be afraid to ask the hard questions. This will, in my view, enhance capabilities in a creative and regional way with comprehensive response plans at all stages of risk management prevention, protection and response. With focused operational research, existing technology and regimes can be enhanced. Marine response will never be perfect but it can be continuously improved. I am positive about the future. By fostering an active and open dialogue, we can ensure that whatever the outcome of marine projects, everything possible will be done to protect our unique and sacred coast. Being OceanStrong is always going to be a work in progress. The open discussion started in BC Shipping News has been an integral part of moving forward on Canada’s West Coast marine response. We need to build on the solid foundation of leaning and looking forward. Joe Spears has been involved in marine response for the last 40 years. Joe has had the honour of writing for BC Shipping News for the last nine years. It’s been a lot of fun. Joe. hbmg2@gmail.com.
LEGAL AFFAIRS
New law comes into effect for wrecked, abandoned and hazardous vessels By Jason Hicks A Vancouver lawyer with Bernard LLP
O
n July 30, 2019, Canada’s new federal Wrecked, Abandoned or Hazardous Vessels Act (the “Act”) came into effect. The Act imposes new obligations and potentially increases liabilities on vessel owners; increases and clarifies the government’s powers to deal with wrecked, abandoned and hazardous vessels; and will be of interest to vessel operators, ports, waterfront property owners and coastal communities throughout British Columbia. The current federal government considered that it had insufficient tools at its disposal to identify and address wrecked, abandoned and dilapidated vessels. Such vessels can create maritime safety, navigation and environmental hazards, and negatively impact local industries such as fishing and tourism. Moreover, the cost of remedying the effects of such vessels historically has tended to fall mainly on local taxpayers. To remedy this situation, in 2017, the government introduced Bill C-64 as one component of its Oceans Protection Plan. After soliciting and considering input from various industry and community stakeholders, Bill C-64 was finalized as the Act and brought into force. Amongst other things, the Act implements the Nairobi International Convention on the Removal of Wrecks, 2007 (the “Nairobi Convention”) into Canadian law. The purpose of the Nairobi Convention is to provide national governments with a legal basis and uniform set of rules for addressing shipwrecks that pose potential or actual hazards to maritime safety, navigation and the environment. While the Nairobi Convention in principle applies only to a country’s Exclusive Economic Zone (i.e., the waters between 12 and 200 nautical miles from a country’s coastline), signatory countries have the option of applying it also to their territorial waters, which Canada has done through the Act. With Canada, there are now 44 signatory states and territories
The Act imposes new obligations and potentially increases liabilities on vessel owners ... and will be of interest to vessel operators, ports, waterfront property owners and coastal communities throughout British Columbia. representing approximately 72 per cent of the world’s merchant shipping tonnage. The Act imposes obligations, prohibitions and liabilities on vessel owners. But who is a vessel owner? The Act uses two different definitions. For Part 1, which deals with liability for locating, marking and removal of wrecks, the Act adopts the definition of “registered owner” under the Nairobi Convention. Subject to a caveat that I will return to in a moment, that definition states that the owner of a vessel is the person registered as such. In the Canadian context, such reliance on the Transport Canada vessel registry system is potentially problematic. That system does not purport to transfer title upon registration. Rather, title transfers by contract, and then that title transfer must be registered with Transport Canada. But if the parties to a vessel transaction fail to register the title transfer, the buyer still holds legal title to the vessel. Under the Act, however, the Seller may still be held to be the owner for the purposes of Part 1 liabilities. For this reason, the Act makes it even more important for sellers of Canadian vessels to ensure that the Transport Canada registry is updated promptly upon the transaction closing. The Nairobi Convention definition of a registered owner goes on to state that, if no person is registered as the owner, then the owner is the person who owns the vessel, which appears to be an unhelpful circular definition. For everything other than Part 1, the Act sets out its own definition of owner as anyone who (i) is the registered owner of a
vessel; (ii) is the holder of a pleasure craft licence; or (iii) holds, under contract or law, the rights of an owner in respect of a vessel’s possession or use. Under this definition, there may be multiple parties identified as owners, such as both the registered and legal owners where the Transport Canada registry is not up-to-date. Consider also the situation of a charterer under a bareboat charter party and whether they hold sufficient rights to be considered an owner “in respect of the vessel’s possession or use.” Under Part 1 of the Act, and pursuant to the Nairobi Convention, vessel owners are liable for locating, marking and removing shipwrecks. In particular, an owner must promptly place marker buoys on a shipwreck in accordance with applicable international standards, and immediately report the wreck to government authorities. The standard is a strict liability, meaning that owners are presumed to be liable unless they can demonstrate the cause of the wreck was one of an enumerated list that includes acts of war, natural phenomenon, the intentional acts of a third party or the negligent or wrongful act of a government authority responsible for the maintenance of navigation lights or markers. In addition to their own costs, owners may also be liable to pay for the costs and expenses of the Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of Fisheries and Oceans that are incurred in response to a shipwreck. The Act adopts the Nairobi Convention’s mandatory obligation for owners of vessels larger than 300 gross tonnes to carry insurance or to post financial security for their September 2019 — BC Shipping News — 49
LEGAL AFFAIRS The Act is an important development in Canadian maritime law and a welcome effort to address hazardous vessels and wrecks. obligations under the Act. Such vessels must obtain and carry a certificate confirming such insurance or security is in place. Without this certificate, international vessels may not enter or exit Canadian ports or facilities, and Canadian vessels may not operate in Canadian waters. Transport Canada will be responsible for issuing such certificates in Canada.
50 — BC Shipping News — September 2019
Part 2 of the Act prohibits vessel owners from doing a number of things, such as abandoning their vessel, leaving it adrift for more than 48 hours, allowing it to become a wreck through inaction, or leaving a dilapidated vessel stranded, moored or grounded in the same place for more than 60 days without permission from a person
authorized to grant such permission. These prohibitions clearly are critically important for managing vessels that may already pose navigation and safety hazards and are at risk of becoming hazardous wrecks. The Act sets out an extensive set of enforcement powers to ensure compliance and address contraventions. The range of potential penalties is considerable and significant. Minor violations may result in fines of up to $5,000 for individuals and $25,000 for vessels or other persons including corporations. For more serious violations, the maximum fines may increase to $50,000 and $250,000 respectively. The most serious regulatory offence prosecutions may result in fines for individuals of up to $1 million and / or three years of imprisonment, and for fines of up to $6 million for vessels or other corporations. Transport Canada and the Canadian Coast Guard are expected to be the primary government entities tasked with administering and enforcing the Act. Under the Act, the owner of a shipwreck is responsible to arrange removal of the wreck. However, the government authorities may stipulate conditions regarding such removal before it commences. It is unclear what criteria will be applied to determine such conditions, and whether such process may in effect slow down wreck removal operations and / or increase costs. Under the Nairobi Convention, government authorities are narrowly empowered to stipulate criteria only to address concerns regarding safety and environmental protection. By contrast, the Act broadly empowers Canadian government authorities to take all measures that they consider appropriate, requiring only that such stipulations be proportionate to the hazard. The Act is an important development in Canadian maritime law and a welcome effort to address hazardous vessels and wrecks. However, important questions remain about how the Act will be implemented, and whether the government authorities will be successful in balancing the legitimate but sometimes competing interests of vessel owners on the one hand, with those of the affected stakeholders on the other. Jason Hicks is a projects, construction and business lawyer specializing in infrastructure and maritime matters at Bernard LLP. He can be reached at Hicks@bernardllp.ca. Thanks to articling student Jeffrey Wu for valuable research assistance on this article.
WOMEN IN SHIPPING International Women’s Conference
Achieving gender equality will increase talent pool for the industry
T
he theme for the International Maritime Organization’s World Maritime Day 2019 was “Empowering Women in the Maritime Community.” Picking up on that theme, the World Maritime University (WMU) in Malmö, Sweden, held a conference in April to further raise awareness of gender equality in the maritime industry. This was the third International Women’s Conference organized by the WMU and, lucky for the local West Coast industry, B.C. was well represented through the presence of Robbin Sinclaire FCPA FCA, Master Mariners of Canada, and Kate Armstrong, Seaspan Marine. The information and ideas both women took away from the conference are providing a catalyst for local initiatives.
Background
great idea and fully supported my attendance,” said Armstrong whose broad experience in a number of sectors within the marine industry speaks to a deeper understanding of the issues and challenges in recruiting women to the industry. Armstrong’s career has spanned 30 years. It started with Nautical Science studies and holding various deck positions on a variety of ships, but changed direction due to an injury sustained while working on one of the vessels, which hampered her sea-going temporarily. Rather than give up her maritime career, she enrolled in a three year technical Naval Architecture program. Following her graduation, Armstrong has worked in a number of diverse marine industries — as a naval architect in design offices such as Peter Hatfield Ltd., a plan approver/hull surveyor with Transport Canada, an independent marine surveyor with her own company and currently as an advisor on marine regulatory matters with Seaspan Marine.
— over one-third of their membership is women in the maritime industry — and has plans to further promote the benefits of membership among women. “We are in the early stages of developing a ‘Women Mentoring Women’ program, led by Captain Amanda Slade MM,” she said, adding that MMC is considering implementing the program at the national level. Both Sinclaire and Ewart are also on the working group for a national Symposium hosted by MMC to be held on October 3 of this year in Ottawa to address inclusion and equality in the industry. The response from interested participants, speakers and sponsors has already surpassed expectations. For Kate Armstrong, Manager, Regulatory and Compliance, Seaspan Marine, it was Captain David Whitaker MM, fellow director of the Nautical Professional Education Society of Canada, who first brought the WMU Conference to her attention. “I took the idea back to the executive of Seaspan who thought it was a Photos: BC Shipping News
Having spent much of the past 20 years working in Nunavut, Robbin Sinclaire and her husband, Captain Jim Ewart MM, have recently shifted their base of operations to southern B.C. to pursue new opportunities for their consulting firm, SILA North. While up north, the team focused on economic development, working with stakeholders on feasibility assessment projects — often including a marine component — for example, they were involved with studies that led to the Iqaluit deep sea port currently under development. Now on the West Coast, both Sinclaire and Ewart joined the Master Mariners of Canada (MMC) where Ewart is now the Divisional Master of the Vancouver Island Division and Sinclaire is the corporate representative for SILA North. “The conference married up with strategies we’ve been developing to address membership recruitment — specifically, female mariners,” said Sinclaire. “At the last MMC annual general meeting, there was a lot of discussion about membership in general and the need to reinvigorate the organization through active recruitment of new members.” Sinclaire went on to note that the Vancouver Island Division has already seen success in increasing female memberships
This was the third International Women’s Conference organized by the WMU and, lucky for the local West Coast industry, B.C. was well represented...
Robbin Sinclaire
Kate Armstrong September 2019 — BC Shipping News — 51
WOMEN IN SHIPPING Conference highlights
In addition to the 300 delegates at the Third WMU International Women’s Conference in Malmö, Sweden, satellite feeds available through the conference website provided an opportunity for many more to hear the presentations firsthand. The theme, in keeping with that of the IMO’s World Maritime Day 2019 – “Empowering Women in the Maritime Community” — drew a diverse crowd of global participants from government, industry, non-government organizations, indigenous communities, academia and media. Plenary and panel sessions over the twoday conference saw presenters provide insights into such topics as the role of women in the shipping industry — the achievements so far and the challenges ahead; women occupying senior leadership positions in national governments and international organizations; increasing the visibility of women at sea; and closing the gender gap in the maritime community. Both Armstrong and Sinclaire reported that presentations were interesting and provided a lot of useful information however both felt that the conference could have benefitted from more engagement between panel presenters as well as between panels and the audience. Following the conference, a set of conclusions and recommendations, developed by conference organizers on behalf of all participants, urged international organizations, governmental entities and stakeholders in the maritime and ocean communities to undertake initiatives that would promote greater gender diversity. To list just a few examples: • Motivate women and girls in secondary education to pursue career paths in the maritime and ocean fields, and in particular to raise their awareness towards the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. • Open early-career job opportunities for women and develop attractive career paths for them; • Introduce gender equality as a business case for initiating commercial partnerships. • Ensure equal employment opportunities, including equal pay to women in the maritime and ocean communities.
Takeaways
“Women are a great source of talent,” said Armstrong. “It’s not about meeting a quota or about providing special treatment for any
52 — BC Shipping News — September 2019
WOMEN IN SHIPPING single gender or race, but rather it’s about finding the right people in a tough labour market. Many of the initiatives that are being considered to recruit women could easily result in attracting more young men or more First Nations, for example. The overall goal must be to increase the number of people entering the industry.” Sinclaire echoed those thoughts and added that addressing systemic barriers to entering the maritime industry is also required. Using the job interview process as an example, she outlined recent research that found that well-qualified women weren’t being selected for positions because they respond differently than men to behavioral questions and take a different approach to solving problems. “They would reach the same conclusion as their male counterpart but they were expressing that solution in different verbiage,” said Sinclaire, adding that by looking at each step in the recruitment process as well as career advancement opportunities we could identify ways in which the playing field can be levelled. Another area that required attention was in addressing physical barriers, albeit it was noted that technology and automation were playing a great part in reducing and removing many of those barriers. In addition to physical barriers, Armstrong pointed out that it was important to engage men – especially in the case of women joining men on board vessels. “In my role at Seaspan, I have the opportunity to interact with crew on our tugs. For many of these men, you’re asking them to change their world,” she said. “We should be getting their input and feedback to make sure that the integration of women on board and at sea is done in a positive way for both genders.”
maritime women of Seaspan can connect with each other as well as investigating ways for Seaspan to hook into resources that are available for women considering a maritime career such as websites that can connect women to mentors, like Women Offshore (www.womenoffshore.org). Sinclaire reported that the Master Mariners of Canada is also in the planning stages of developing initiatives to encourage recruitment of women. With the caveat that MMC operates with volunteers who have limits on the time they can spend, Sinclaire described looking for ways to connect women mariners with training facilities and employment opportunities through websites as well as visits to schools. She pointed to the MMC’s LinkedIn page with over 2,200 followers as a great start in connecting mariners all over the world. “There
are a lot of existing vehicles for networking and providing useful information,” she said. “We need to highlight those resources for young women who are at the beginning of their career choice.” Above all else, Sinclaire and Armstrong felt it was important for attitudes to change. While both recognized that young women today don’t have the same perception of barriers that existed in the past, there needs to be greater engagement at senior leadership levels to ensure gender-positive policies are implemented. “I think the words of IMO Secretary General Kitack Lim at the conference’s opening address summed up the situation well,” said Sinclaire. “The maritime world needs all hands on deck, both male and female, to continue to carry the world’s goods.” BCSN
Taking action
Following the conference, Sinclaire and Armstrong identified a number of initiatives that could be implemented locally. In her report back to Seaspan executive, Armstrong has recommended various ways to create greater awareness about the opportunities in the company. “Some of the ideas being discussed include engaging young people — both men and women — at an earlier age, for example, visiting secondary schools,” she said, adding it was important to build support networks for young people to discover their passion. Other initiatives include work being done at Seaspan on an exposure piece, promoting ways that the September 2019 — BC Shipping News — 53
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IBC Fraser Surrey Docks..................................................................................................................................................25 Frontier Power Products.............................................................................................................................................16 Gillespie-Munro Inc....................................................................................................................................................24 Global Container Terminals..........................................................................................................................................3 GMT - Global Marine Travel.................................................................................................................................36 Greater Victoria Harbour Authority..............................................................................................................................29 Greenwood Maritime Solutions..................................................................................................................................12 Harken Towing....................................................................................................................................................42 IMS Marine Surveyors & Analytical Laboratories Ltd............................................................................................17 Innovative Manufacturing Inc...............................................................................................................................40 Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers........................................................................................................................48 International Sailors' Society Canada...................................................................................................................52 Island Tug and Barge...........................................................................................................................................23 John Horton, Marine Artist..................................................................................................................................54 Jones Marine Group Ltd......................................................................................................................................33 King Bros. Limited...............................................................................................................................................12 Lions Gate Marina...............................................................................................................................................34 Lonnie Wishart Photography...............................................................................................................................54 Maritime Museum of BC......................................................................................................................................54 Master Mariners of Canada.................................................................................................................................53 Mission to Seafarers Cycling for Seafarers...........................................................................................................33 Naval Association of Canada Conference...............................................................................................................8 Osborne Propellers..............................................................................................................................................13 Port Alberni Port Authority...................................................................................................................................32 Port of Nanaimo....................................................................................................................................................5 Port of Prince Rupert..........................................................................................................................................21 Port of Vancouver.................................................................................................................................................6 Prime Mover Controls Inc....................................................................................................................................24 Robert Allan Ltd....................................................................................................................................................9 SAAM SMIT........................................................................................................................................................15 Samson Tugboats...............................................................................................................................................29 Seaspan.............................................................................................................................................................13 Shipping Federation of Canada............................................................................................................................16 Steward World Port.............................................................................................................................................42 Sylte Shipyard.....................................................................................................................................................40 Tactical Marine Solutions Ltd...............................................................................................................................26 Tidal Transport....................................................................................................................................................27 Tymac.................................................................................................................................................................46 UZMAR Shipbuilding..........................................................................................................................................IFC Vancouver Maritime Museum..............................................................................................................................50 Wesgroup Equipment/Williams Machinery...........................................................................................................19 Western Canada Marine Response Corporation....................................................................................................30 Western Maritime Institute...................................................................................................................................18
John M. Horton, Marine Artist Paintings and limited edition prints for corporate offices, retirement gifts and marine art collections
“Vancouver Bound”
This specially commissioned painting features the tanker MT Kirkeholmen heading for Vancouver on one of her regular north bound transits.
For special commissions:
www.johnhorton.ca (604) 943-4399 / john@johnhorton.ca 54 — BC Shipping News — September 2019
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Thank you Jane McIvor & BC Shipping News for your contributions to our industry From all of us at DP World
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