BRITISH Columbia port officials say western Canada's box shops will be ready to handle mega-ships within a few years, and container terminal operators are planning for expansion, despite predictions of downturn.
In an interview with Business Vancouver earlier in 2015, Port Metro Vancouver (PMV) vice-president, planning and operations, Peter Xotta, said Deltaport already handles 10,000-TEU ships, adding, "We're confident that the terminal can handle vessels [of] up to 12,000 or 14,000 TEU".
He conceded that port container cranes would have to be modified to service 18,000-TEU vessels but added that the proposed three-berth Roberts Bank Terminal 2 at Deltaport, which would add 2.4 million TEU annually to its container handling capacity, would be designed to service mega-container vessels anticipated to start calling at PMV in three to five years.
In November, GCT Global Container Terminals Inc, whose GCT Canada subsidiary operates PMV's Vanterm and Deltaport, announced the start of a C$280 million (US$198.5 million) project to expand Deltaport's intermodal yard to raise its annual capacity to 1.9 million TEU. Vanterm and Deltaport handle 75 per cent of the containers shipped through PMV.
While the company declined to comment on its 2016 container business projections, GCT's manager of market initiatives and development, Louanne Wong, said its investment in intermodal infrastructure shows where the growth is for container terminals
GCT competitor DP World, which owns Prince Rupert's Fairview and Vancouver's Centerm container terminals, in December announced plans to study further expansion of Prince Rupert to increase its container handling capacity to two million TEU. Last March, the Prince Rupert operator committed C$200 million to increase the terminal's capacity 60 per cent.
DP World Vancouver general manager Maksim Mihic declined to comment on 2016 global container trade projections, but said the company is "positive about Prince Rupert and our ability to deliver. We are up almost 30 per cent up there for this year. We believe that we have the best product, the shortest route to Asia and superior service."
He said the Phase 2 Fairview expansion project "is good news for our economy, it's good news for BC, it's a massive investment for the community of Prince Rupert".
As of September 2015, PMV's year-to-date container cargo was 2.3 million TEU, up 5.7 per cent from the same period in 2014.
PORTS
08 January 2016 - 23:12
Global box trade gloom leaves cheerful British Columbia ports unmoved
BRITISH Columbia port officials say western Canada's box shops will be ready to handle mega-ships within a few years, and container terminal operators are planning for expansion, despite predictions of downturn.
PORTS
08 January 2016 - 23:12
Global box trade gloom leaves cheerful British Columbia ports unmoved
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