Port of Vancouver USA Receives Major Wind Turbine Blade Shipment

By Karen Robes Meeks

The Port of Vancouver USA recently received its biggest wind turbine blade shipment so far with the delivery of 27 blades and other parts for a Canadian wind project that’s expected to open in 2021.

Turbine manufacturer Goldwind and the wind project owner Potentia Renewables teamed up on the delivery effort. The components and blades are expected to be taken to laydown space at Terminal 2 and Terminal 5 before being moved by Totran Transportation Services over 21 weeks to Saskatchewan, Canada.

“During the COVID-19 pandemic the port continues to operate to keep the supply chain and commodities moving,” said Port CEO Julianna Marler. “The port has proven our unique ability to handle these types of large projects. Customers know our heavy lift mobile cranes, acres of laydown space, highly-skilled workforce, and dedication to renewable energy make the Port of Vancouver the perfect port for receiving wind energy components.”

Port of Vancouver USA Postpones Two Events

By Karen Robes Meeks

The Port of Vancouver USA is suspending a pair of public events this month in an effort to limit potential exposure to the COVID-19 virus.

The two postponed public gathering were the lecture set for March 16 at 6:30 p.m. at Warehouse ‘23, and the tour scheduled for 11:30 a.m. on March 19.

“It goes without saying that the safety of our staff and those we come in contact with are of utmost importance to us,” said port CEO Julianna Marler. “Following the advice of health care professionals, we must take steps to minimize exposure to the virus to keep our staff, families and community safe. As much as we regret having to make this decision, one way we can do this is by postponing large group gatherings like our popular tours and lectures.”

The port said it will continue to monitor the situation in the weeks ahead to determine whether to suspend other tours and lectures.

Vancouver USA Continues Clean Audit Streak

By Karen Robes Meeks

For the 10th straight year, the Port of Vancouver USA earned a clean audit from the Washington State Auditor’s Office. No deficiencies were discovered for the audit period of Jan. 1 through Dec. 31, 2018.

“I’m incredibly proud of the hard work of our Port of Vancouver staff,” said CEO Julianna Marler. “Receiving 10 consecutive clean audits is no small feat. It truly demonstrates the integrity of our team and our continued dedication to accountability and responsible use of public resources.”

The office annually reviews ports across Washington state for various programs and processes.

At the Port of Vancouver, the office looked at “self-insurance; marine terminal revenue; payroll disbursements; procurement, including professional services, public works, and award of contracts on an emergency basis; and accounts payable, including general disbursements, credit cards and employee reimbursements,” according to the port.

Vancouver Energy Faces Lease Loss

By Karen Robes Meeks

The Port of Vancouver USA’s Board of Commissioners recently voted 3-0 to give notice to Vancouver Energy, a joint venture between Andeavor (formerly Tesoro Corp.) and Savage Companies planning to build a $210 million terminal at the port. The company must get the necessary licenses, permits and approvals to operate by March 31 or face lease termination.

The proposed terminal would take up to 360,000 barrels of crude delivered daily by rail and store it before transferring it to vessels going to West Coast oil refineries, where it would become transportation fuel and other products for US consumers. When fully operational, the business would have the potential to generate $2 billion for the local and regional economy and “uniquely positions Washington to bring lower-carbon fuels to the West Coast,” according to Vancouver Energy’s website. The project, which has been under review by the Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council (EFSEC) since August 2013, received a setback December 19 when the council announced it would recommend that Gov. Jay Inslee deny the project.

“It’s gratifying to have our commission be united in its vision for the future of the port and community,” said Commission President Eric LaBrant. “We still await the governor’s decision on the project and we continue to be focused on supporting businesses, growing jobs and providing benefit to our community.”

Commissioner Jerry Oliver, a longtime supporter of the project and the EFSEC review process, said he was aware of the council’s rejection, but still sees a way forward. “I believe that when the decision on the oil terminal is behind us, in five years or ten years, the port will still be doing great things for the benefit of the community,” he said.

Annual Trade at Port of Vancouver Dips Slightly

By Mark Edward Nero

Overall volume at the Port of Vancouver, British Columbia, dipped slightly to 136 million tons of cargo in 2016, down 1.8 percent from 2015, per newly released data.

However, sectors experiencing declines were offset by others that hit new records, including the bulk grain sector, the port said Feb. 28.

“One of our biggest strengths has been, and continues to be, the port’s ability to accommodate the most diversified range of cargo of any port in North America,” Port of Vancouver President and CEO Robin Silvester said in a statement. “Since 2013, the Port of Vancouver has experienced its fourth consecutive year of traffic volumes over 135 million tons, despite global economic downturns.”

2016 marked the Port of Vancouver’s third consecutive year of record volumes in bulk grain and its fifth year of an upward trend. Bulk grain export volumes through the port increased 1.3 percent from 2015, to reach 21.8 million metric tons in 2016.

Record bulk grain exports were driven by higher volumes of canola and specialty crop exports, which are up about 19 percent and nearly 18 percent, respectively. The growth was offset, however, by a 16.4 percent weather-related decrease in wheat exports.

Port data also show that containerized exports rose by 3.3 percent due to growth in woodpulp, grain and food and agri-product shipments. But that increase was offset by a 2.4 percent decline in loaded import containers, partly due, Vancouver says, to the return of some traffic to U.S. West Coast ports after their 2015 labor dispute. This led to a flat result in overall laden container volumes for 2016.

The weak Canadian dollar and a slowdown in industry investment and development activity in western Canada showed in a 17.2 percent decline in metal and project cargo imports in 2016, while a 22 percent drop in breakbulk lumber and wood pulp also contributed to a decline in overall import and export breakbulk volumes, according to port data.

Additionally, overall coal volumes were down by 6.1 percent in 2016, due to a 28.2 per cent decrease in thermal coal exports.

The port’s cruise industry experienced stable growth in 2016, as the port welcomed 228 cruise ships and 826,820 passengers compared to 805,400 passengers in 2015, an increase of three percent.

Neeser Re-elected Port of Vancouver Board Chair

By Mark Edward Nero

The body that oversees operations at the Port of Vancouver in British Columbia has re-elected Craig Neeser to serve as chair for a fourth term, commencing March 1, 2017.

The Vancouver Fraser Port Authority Board of Directors announced the decision on Feb. 23. The port’s board of directors is composed of 11 members: one federal appointee; one BC provincial appointee; one appointee for the Prairie Provinces Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba; one municipal appointee; and, seven port user appointees.

Neeser was originally appointed to the board in August 2009 and most recently re-appointed in 2015. He’s the former president of Weyerhaeuser Co., a private lumber company. Before that, he was senior vice president with Weyerhaeuser’s International Group, and was senior vice president, solid wood group when Weyerhaeuser acquired MacMillan Bloedel.

Under Weyerhaeuser, he also served as vice president, British Columbia, and later as president, Canada. He has served on the boards of directors of the Council of Forest Industries of British Columbia, University of Alberta, Global Forest Partners, Maynards, the Vancouver Aquarium, and the Forest Products Association of Canada.

The Port of Vancouver is North America’s third-busiest port by tonnage, after the Los Angeles and Long Beach ports in Southern California.

Hanjin Ship Docks at Vancouver After Weeks in Limbo

By Mark Edward Nero

Hanjin Scarlet, a containership that had been anchored in legal limbo near the Port of Prince Rupert since its owner filed for bankruptcy protection at the end of August, has finally docked – but not at Prince Rupert.

The vessel reached shore at the Port of Vancouver in British Columbia on Oct. 27, Canadian news media outlets have reported.

Hanjin Scarlet is one of two Korean ships that had been stranded in Canadian waters for two months, the other ship being the Hanjin Vienna, which is currently anchored near Victoria, BC.

Roughly half of Scarlet's crew of about 25 will have to stay with the ship for some time to maintain it, but are expected to be paid for their time.

Prince Rupert Port Authority spokesman Michael Gurney told the CBC that the Scarlet would offload all its North American cargo at Vancouver. The vessel will not proceed to Seattle, as was originally planned, before returning across the Pacific.

Canadian federal court records show four pending legal cases against the Scarlet, brought by Singamas Petroleum, Prince Rupert Port Authority, Pacific Pilotage Authority Canada and terminal operator DP World Prince Rupert.

Proceedings in the suit brought by DP World show that the vessel remains under arrest, but that the court granted special leave to move the vessel to one specified location for unloading.

Hanjin, the world’s seventh largest container carrier, filed a receivership application with the Seoul, South Korea Central District Court on Aug. 31 seeking court receivership after losing the support of financial institutions that had been providing it credit.

Port of Vancouver Cargo Traffic Slides

By Mark Edward Nero

Total cargo at Canada’s largest port for the half-year ending June 30 was 66.0 million metric tons, an overall decrease of 5.9 percent over the same period in 2015, according to data released Aug. 19 by the Port of Vancouver.

According to the port authority’s 2016 mid-year statistics report, a softened global economy, the weakened Canadian dollar, and some containerized cargo shifting back to United States ports following an extended labor disruption on the US West Coast last year were all factors contributing to lighter than usual traffic through the port.

Despite the short-term slowdown, forecasts show that long-term growth in trade is expected to continue to boost the Canadian economy.

“The slight decrease in cargo volumes in the first half of 2016 is expected, given the record year we experienced in 2015 and the softening global economy,” Vancouver Fraser Port Authority President and CEO Robin Silvester explained. “The long-term outlook for Canadian trade is one of growth, and the port will be ready to handle increased volumes through Canada’s West Coast.”

The half-year results represent a softening of volumes in all major commodities except grain, where increases in barley (up 41.8 percent) and canola (up 40.1 percent) contributed to overall growth in that sector.

In the container sector, volumes weakened in the first half of 2016 compared to last year, when the port had experienced a temporary surge of cargo in 2015 as shippers moved freight through Canada due to traffic congestion caused by labor disruptions at US West Coast ports. Between January and June 2016, 1.4 million twenty-foot equivalent units moved through Vancouver, a decrease of 6.5 percent from the same period in 2015, a record-breaking year. Compared to 2014, 2016 volume is up 1.3 percent.

Vancouver Drayage Truck Standards Go Into Effect

By Mark Edward Nero

Environmental requirements that Canada’s Port of Vancouver believes will have an immediate impact on air quality and public health in the densely populated Lower Mainland recently went into effect for container trucks serving the port.

Effective Aug. 1, all trucks registered in the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority’s Truck Licensing System are required to have either a diesel oxidation catalyst or diesel particulate filter installed in order to gain access to port facilities.

Currently, there are about 1,750 trucks performing around 30,000 container trips weekly along truck routes in the region and most trucks in the system are already compliant.

To fulfill requirements and maintain port access, trucking companies and independent owner-operators must provide verification of their truck engine age or proof that retrofits have been made to older trucks. Since the August 1 deadline, around 100 trucks that were in the Truck Licensing System are no longer permitted to access port facilities, according to the port.

“Modernizing the port’s truck fleet is just one way we are contributing to efforts that address climate change and protect the health of local citizens,” port Vice President of Planning and Operations Peter Xotta said.

The installation of diesel oxidation catalysts on trucks with 2006 model engines or older will reduce emissions of diesel particulate matter, a known human carcinogen as defined by the World Health Organization, by about 20 percent.

Truck engines built from 2007 onwards with diesel particulate filters produce 90 percent less diesel particulate matter than older engines, while trucks built from 2010 onwards are known to produce 20 times less nitrogen oxide, a key component of smog, than older engines.

Port Metro Vancouver Renamed

By Mark Edward Nero

Canada’s largest port has a new name. The title “Port Metro Vancouver” was dropped on April 6 and replaced by “Port of Vancouver.”

The name change, according to the port, is intended to strengthen the port’s recognition with stakeholders and customers as well as provide clarity and distinction between the activities of the port authority and those of the greater port community.

The port says that feedback and research indicated the use of “Port Metro Vancouver” to refer to the port and the federal port authority created confusion. Internationally, the port is already widely referenced as the Port of Vancouver.

However, there’s already another Port of Vancouver: the deepwater port in Vancouver, Washington. That facility however, refers to itself as the Port of Vancouver USA, in order to avoid confusion with its much larger neighbor, located about 300 miles to the north.

In addition to the port being renamed, the port’s governing body is implementing the consistent use of its legal name, the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority, when referencing its activities or decisions.

The Vancouver Fraser Port Authority was formed in 2008 when three regional port authorities – the Port of Vancouver, North Fraser Port Authority and Fraser River Port Authority -- were amalgamated.

Metro Vancouver Monitoring Shows No Ecosystem Impacts

By Mark Edward Nero

A program to monitor and manage the ecosystem of the Roberts Bank inter-causeway area has concluded after eight years that the ecosystem has not suffered significant negative impacts due to the construction of a third berth at Port Metro Vancouver’s Deltaport container terminal.

The independent monitoring program, called the Adaptive Management Strategy, was developed by Port Metro Vancouver in consultation with Environment Canada. It included a scientific advisory committee comprised of three scientists appointed to provide independent scientific and technical advice and recommendations to prevent or mitigate any significant negative ecosystem trends attributable to the Deltaport Third Berth Project.

The program was designed to look specifically for changes to the nutrient balance in the water, and for potential erosion effects, both of which could negatively affect the ecosystem of the area located between the Roberts Bank and Highway 17 causeways in Delta.

It was initiated in 2007 when construction of the Deltaport third berth commenced, and carried through until 2014. Science-based monitoring concluded there was no evidence of significant environmental impacts from the project.

One small localized area behind a tugboat basin showed changes in water and sediment quality due to poor drainage, and the port authority responded by installing a swale in a berm to increase drainage.

“It is very encouraging to see the plan put in place nine years ago has been successful in protecting the ecosystem at Roberts Bank,” said Duncan Wilson, Port Metro Vancouver’s Vice President of Corporate Social Responsibility.

The final report on the strategy, as well as yearly reports since 2007, is available on Port Metro Vancouver’s website: http://www.portmetrovancouver.com/working-with-us/permitting/project-and-environmental-reviews/status-of-applications/deltaport-third-berth-project/

United Grain Locks Out Union Dockworkers

United Grain Corp., which operates an export terminal at the Port of Vancouver in Washington State, locked out its longshore workers this week, saying that an investigation found that a union leader sabotaged terminal equipment, a charge the union strongly denies.

“We cannot risk further vandalism that might disrupt safety or impede operations. Therefore this morning we notified the union of our intention to operate the terminal without ILWU labor,” United Grain President and CEO Gary Schuld said Feb. 27.

An investigator hired by United Grain is said to have found out through video surveillance and other evidence, that a leader with International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 4 intentionally sabotaged equipment, resulting in $105,000 in damages, according to the terminal operator.

United Grain, a subsidiary of Japanese trading company Mitsui, says it terminated the unidentified employee Feb. 26 and has turned over the investigator’s report and evidence to law enforcement for possible criminal prosecution. The company also says it intends to continue operating the terminal with management personnel and replacement workers.

The lockout is believed to affect between 40 and 50 ILWU members, dozens of whom began picketing the United Grain terminal within hours after the lockout was announced. The union is disputing the sabotage allegation, calling it “unfounded” and a response to difficult labor contract talks.

It also claims the lockout is a violation of US labor law.

“United Grain and its Japanese owners at Mitsui have failed to negotiate in good faith with the men and women of the ILWU for months and instead chose to aggressively prepare for a lockout,” Jennifer Sargent, the union’s Coast Longshore Division Communications Director, said.

Sargent went on to call the sabotage story “fabricated” as an excuse to lock out the workers rather than work toward reaching a new labor contract.

The sabotage allegation and lockout are the latest twists in months of contract negotiations between the union and Pacific Northwest Grain Handlers Association, which represents UGC and other terminal operators in Washington and Oregon.

The Pacific Northwest Grain Handlers Association represents three companies: United Grain, which has an export terminal at the Port of Vancouver; Columbia Grain, which operates a Port of Portland terminal; and LD Commodities, operator of facilities in Portland and Seattle.

The association also represented TEMCO, which has facilities in Kalama, Portland and Tacoma, however the TEMCO and the union recently reached a contract agreement, which is expected to be signed March 9.

The Grain Handlers Association began negotiations with the union in early September 2012, weeks prior to the previous contract’s Sept. 30 expiration date, seeking a contract similar to what was worked out between management and longshore workers at the Port of Longview in early 2012 for the port’s EGT grain terminal. The contract includes several cost-saving measures.

However, the ILWU has said it won’t budge on some concessions the owners want, such as 12-hour work shifts, an ability to bypass the union hiring hall and being given greater control over the ability to fire dockworkers.

Canadian Grain Exporters Slam CP Railway for Poor Service

The Western Grain Elevator Association on Monday slammed the publicly-owned Canadian Pacific Railway for not providing enough grain rail cars and offering "extremely poor service."

WGEA members handle more than 90 percent of Canada's bulk grain exports, a large percentage of which travels thorough the Canadian West Coast ports of Vancouver and Prince Rupert.

"We expected the upcoming release of the [Canadian federal government's] Rail Service Report to result in improved service by the railways in an attempt to counter the serious performance concerns uncovered by the Review Panel. However, this is not the case." WGEA executive director Wade Sobkowich said.

According to WGEA, since August 1, 2010, only 65 per cent of car orders have been accepted by CPR and the Canadian Class I railroad has only provided 30 per cent of the accepted cars on time. Sobkowich said this performance is the worst in the collective memory of the WGEA.

The WGEA is asking the Canadian Rail Service Review Panel to legislatively "create disciplines" to ensure "adequate service levels are established and sustained" by the railroad.

The legislative amendments sought by the WGEA would set a base expectation for rail service and meaningful penalties to be paid to shippers where those levels of service were not met.

"The only sustainable solution lies in creating a legislated disincentive for poor performance that is significant enough to ensure it doesn't happen in the first place, similar in nature to the various penalties that the railways impose on shippers to manage efficient behavior," Sobkowich said.

"If the railways are genuine in their intent to provide adequate service, then the legislative provisions we are proposing will never be used. They would only come into effect if the railway fails to perform."

CPR told the Winnipeg Free Press that "unusual circumstances," such as an inaccurately small forecast of grain production with a simultaneous spike in the demand for grain, led to the railroad's problems in delivering grain cars last fall and this winter.

Canadian Dockers' Contract Talks Causing Cargo Diversions to US Says Employers Group

As mediated talks continue between Canadian West Coast dockers and their industry employers, merely the potential of a strike at the ports of Vancouver, Deltaport, Frazierport and Prince Rupert is already beginning to impact import shipping volumes at the Canadian West Coast ports.

Greg Vurdela, spokesman for the BC Maritime Employers Association, which represents the dockworker employers, told The Province newspaper last week that a "significant percentage" of cargo is already being diverted to American West Coast ports.

"The heightened uncertainty in [Canada's] Asia-Pacific Gateway has left customers with no choice," Vurdela told the paper. "Unfortunately, cargo is now being off-loaded at US ports. The diversions started several weeks ago."

The contract between the BC Maritime Employers Association and two ILWU units representing about 4,800 Canadian dockers expired March 31, 2010. A 21-day cooling off period is scheduled to expire on Feb. 6 with new negotiations set to start on Feb. 7. The mediated talks are set to last until Feb. 12.

Shippers, however, have a long memory. It is hard to forget the more than a dozen labor-related disruption at the Port of Vancouver, BC, alone over the past 50 years, including strikes in 1995 and 1998, a lockout in 1999, and a truckers strike in 2005 that saw unionized truck drivers walk off the job for six weeks.

Vurdela said that cargo imports into Canadian West Coast ports is down 30 to 40 percent due to the industry's anxiety.

And this anxiety may be well placed. While the union has remained mum on the status of the contract talks, the BC Maritime Employers Association reports that the two sides are not close.

CN Inks Forest Product Deal With Western Stevedoring for Vancouver, BC Terminal

Canadian railroad giant CN, Western Stevedoring Company and several forest-products companies have reached a memorandum of understanding for seven-day-a-week unloading services at Western Stevedoring's Lynnterm Terminal at the Port of Vancouver in British Columbia.

The three party agreement among the railway, terminal and forest-products customers is designed to produce a more consistent flow of forest-products traffic through Lynnterm Terminal and help improve supply chain efficiencies at PMV, according to a release by the Canadian National Railway Company, or CN.

Financial details of the deal were not released.

Under the terms of the agreement, CN will provide daily service to Lynnterm Terminal, which, in turn, will guarantee to unload cars seven days per week. The forest-products companies will work with both CN and Lynnterm Terminal to manage inbound traffic flows, according to officials.

"I am pleased that the parties have collaborated on an innovative service plan that will generate productivity improvements and foster growth of traffic through this important Pacific Gateway terminal for forest products and other bulk commodities," said Claude Mongeau, CN president and CEO. "Working together in this manner will enhance supply chain performance."

Tim Chapman, president of the North Vancouver, BC-based Western Stevedoring agreed.
"Western is pleased to have been chosen by CN and our major forest-products shippers to work toward a cooperative agreement to improve the forest-products logistics chain and to define service expectations among the parties," said Chapman.

The 145-acre bulk and breakbulk Lynnterm Terminal features seven berths and eight warehouses comprising a total of more than 875,000 square feet. The terminal is service directly by CN and features 5.6 miles of track providing direct access to warehouse and storage area.