CANADA's west coast Port of prince Rupert suffered a 23 per cent year-on-year drop in tonnage in 2021 to 25,043,251 tonnes.
Container throughput, which had powered growth in previous years, suffered a barely perceptible setback in 2021 to 1,100,303 TEU from 1,100,775 TEU.
However, management is confident that this year will see 'a return to strength', with new services and expansion projects that will boost capacity as well as broaden the scope of capabilities.
The tonnage drop was the result of a poor crop, while the drop in coal shipments was attributed to a large exporter shifting its cargo to Vancouver.
Prince Rupert Port Authority CEO Shaun Stevenson said the port mostly served in conjunction with ports in California and, with vessels on these strings stuck waiting for berth at the Los Angeles and Long Beach, carriers cancelled calls at the Canadian port.
Mr Stevenson also admitted that Prince Rupert lacked transloading capacity. 'We need to develop logistics capabilities to serve import, transload and also export activity,' he said.
He was pleased that Cosco opted for a pendulum service without adding a call in the US Pacific north-west, giving the Canadian gateway direct transpacific service both ways.
And rail service was upped a notch last year with the introduction of expedited offerings respectively to Toronto and Chicago, the result of a partnership between Cosco, DP World and CN.
SeaNews Turkey
Container throughput, which had powered growth in previous years, suffered a barely perceptible setback in 2021 to 1,100,303 TEU from 1,100,775 TEU.
However, management is confident that this year will see 'a return to strength', with new services and expansion projects that will boost capacity as well as broaden the scope of capabilities.
The tonnage drop was the result of a poor crop, while the drop in coal shipments was attributed to a large exporter shifting its cargo to Vancouver.
Prince Rupert Port Authority CEO Shaun Stevenson said the port mostly served in conjunction with ports in California and, with vessels on these strings stuck waiting for berth at the Los Angeles and Long Beach, carriers cancelled calls at the Canadian port.
Mr Stevenson also admitted that Prince Rupert lacked transloading capacity. 'We need to develop logistics capabilities to serve import, transload and also export activity,' he said.
He was pleased that Cosco opted for a pendulum service without adding a call in the US Pacific north-west, giving the Canadian gateway direct transpacific service both ways.
And rail service was upped a notch last year with the introduction of expedited offerings respectively to Toronto and Chicago, the result of a partnership between Cosco, DP World and CN.
SeaNews Turkey