THERE has been a flurry of capacity expansion projects to cope with rising demand at Canada's four leading container ports, including the Vancouver Fraser port where record high volumes have underscored the need for additional capacity.
In the first half of the year the port authority recorded growth of 5.1 per cent with container traffic reaching 1.6 million TEU, reported UK's Port Strategy, Fareham, Hampshire.
'Containerised growth can be attributed to growing demand for imports from key Asia markets, as well as containerised exports of Canadian goods destined for Asia,' the port authority said.
In April the port authority approved the permit application for the Centerm expansion project and south shore access project. If the plans are approved, it will increase the footprint of the DP World container terminal by 15 per cent and capacity by two-thirds.
Work has been ongoing to upgrade Deltaport Terminal. Last year the intermodal yard was reconfigured, and the eventual aim is to add a further 600,000 TEU of capacity through additional rail sidings and road improvements, which include a heavy goods vehicle (HGV) staging area.
The port authority is also promoting the Roberts Bank Terminal 2 project, a new three-berth container terminal that will add 2.4 million TEU in capacity and is due to come on stream in the mid-to-late 2020s.
On the east coast, the Port of Montreal achieved throughput growth of 6.5 per cent to 813,665 TEU in the first two quarters.
'We believe that 2018 will also be a good year for the Port of Montreal. Almost all of our container markets are growing. Europe is on the rise, suggesting a tangible impact of the global trade economic agreement between Canada and the European Union (CETA). Domestic container traffic is also increasing,' said Mr Boemi.
The second phase of development of the Viau container terminal at the Port of Montreal will include the installation of a second 330-metre-long berth, two more dockside gantry cranes and a complementary container receiving area.
Once the second phase has been completed, terminal capacity will rise to 600,000 TEU, boosting overall port capacity to 2.1 million containers.
Next up is a project to build the Contrecoeur Terminal, which will have a 1.15 million TEU capacity. Its commissioning is planned for the middle of the next decade.
Also in eastern Canada, the port of Halifax's communications advisor Lane Farguson noted that 'containerised cargo remains strong. Throughput in 2018 is up 0.7 per cent to 275,839 TEU with June being the highest volume month in the last ten years with 51,707 TEU.'
On the west coast, the Port of Prince Rupert's box throughput in the first seven months of this year has grown by 16 per cent year-on-year to 591,335 TEU.
According to port authority director Brian Friesen, this was partially explained by DP World's Fairview Terminal being expanded in November 2017, bringing the total terminal capacity to 1.35 million TEU.
Given the strong volume growth in both 2017 and 2018, the Port of Prince Rupert and DP World have agreed on the terms of a project development plan that will see the terminal's capacity expanded again to 1.8 million TEU by 2022 as part of a phase 2B expansion.
The work, which is scheduled to commence in mid-2019, will involve expanding the container yard from its current 32 hectares to 41 hectares. Two additional rubber-tired gantry cranes will also be acquired, along with an eighth quayside gantry crane.
The Halifax Port Authority is focusing on digitising key data. In partnership with terminal operators Halterm and Ceres, and rail provider CN, the port authority is pursuing new analytics technologies and applying these to key performance indicators.
The first phase of this initiative is now live with the data available on the port's website. This shows truck waiting times prior to entering the gates at each of the container terminals, information that can be used to assist dispatchers and truckers in scheduling deliveries outside peak congestion.
The next phase of the terminal truck monitoring system will measure truck traffic coming onto the Halifax peninsula, which will provide data on how to move containers more efficiently.
In the first half of the year the port authority recorded growth of 5.1 per cent with container traffic reaching 1.6 million TEU, reported UK's Port Strategy, Fareham, Hampshire.
'Containerised growth can be attributed to growing demand for imports from key Asia markets, as well as containerised exports of Canadian goods destined for Asia,' the port authority said.
In April the port authority approved the permit application for the Centerm expansion project and south shore access project. If the plans are approved, it will increase the footprint of the DP World container terminal by 15 per cent and capacity by two-thirds.
Work has been ongoing to upgrade Deltaport Terminal. Last year the intermodal yard was reconfigured, and the eventual aim is to add a further 600,000 TEU of capacity through additional rail sidings and road improvements, which include a heavy goods vehicle (HGV) staging area.
The port authority is also promoting the Roberts Bank Terminal 2 project, a new three-berth container terminal that will add 2.4 million TEU in capacity and is due to come on stream in the mid-to-late 2020s.
On the east coast, the Port of Montreal achieved throughput growth of 6.5 per cent to 813,665 TEU in the first two quarters.
'We believe that 2018 will also be a good year for the Port of Montreal. Almost all of our container markets are growing. Europe is on the rise, suggesting a tangible impact of the global trade economic agreement between Canada and the European Union (CETA). Domestic container traffic is also increasing,' said Mr Boemi.
The second phase of development of the Viau container terminal at the Port of Montreal will include the installation of a second 330-metre-long berth, two more dockside gantry cranes and a complementary container receiving area.
Once the second phase has been completed, terminal capacity will rise to 600,000 TEU, boosting overall port capacity to 2.1 million containers.
Next up is a project to build the Contrecoeur Terminal, which will have a 1.15 million TEU capacity. Its commissioning is planned for the middle of the next decade.
Also in eastern Canada, the port of Halifax's communications advisor Lane Farguson noted that 'containerised cargo remains strong. Throughput in 2018 is up 0.7 per cent to 275,839 TEU with June being the highest volume month in the last ten years with 51,707 TEU.'
On the west coast, the Port of Prince Rupert's box throughput in the first seven months of this year has grown by 16 per cent year-on-year to 591,335 TEU.
According to port authority director Brian Friesen, this was partially explained by DP World's Fairview Terminal being expanded in November 2017, bringing the total terminal capacity to 1.35 million TEU.
Given the strong volume growth in both 2017 and 2018, the Port of Prince Rupert and DP World have agreed on the terms of a project development plan that will see the terminal's capacity expanded again to 1.8 million TEU by 2022 as part of a phase 2B expansion.
The work, which is scheduled to commence in mid-2019, will involve expanding the container yard from its current 32 hectares to 41 hectares. Two additional rubber-tired gantry cranes will also be acquired, along with an eighth quayside gantry crane.
The Halifax Port Authority is focusing on digitising key data. In partnership with terminal operators Halterm and Ceres, and rail provider CN, the port authority is pursuing new analytics technologies and applying these to key performance indicators.
The first phase of this initiative is now live with the data available on the port's website. This shows truck waiting times prior to entering the gates at each of the container terminals, information that can be used to assist dispatchers and truckers in scheduling deliveries outside peak congestion.
The next phase of the terminal truck monitoring system will measure truck traffic coming onto the Halifax peninsula, which will provide data on how to move containers more efficiently.