B.C. coastal carriers face tough recovery

VANCOUVER, (June 14, 2004) — Coastal loggers and container haulers in British Columbia are finding the road to recovery a steep after an eight-day strike by nearly 800 tugboat pilots and barge operators paralyzed shipping and transportation in and out of the province’s main ports earlier this year.

About 80 per cent of docking and marine shipping was affected in April as tugboat pilots refused to escort vessels in or out of most ports. In-coming vessels were diverted to Seattle, Tacoma, and Portland, where some of the cargo was picked up and trucked back to Canada.

Coal, containers, and forestry took the hardest hit. Tugboats are also responsible for clearing fresh logs from the ocean and moving loads of wood chips to pulp mills.

Bob Simpson, president of Team Transport Services, a Richmond, B.C., container hauler, says recovery is slow. “There’s extremely high volumes in ports for both eastbound traffic (imports) and westbound (exports) for all commodities, especially in grain and forestry,” he says. “The two colliding together is like two Tsunami’s meeting mid-ocean. Volumes are insurmountable.”

Simpson says he and other carriers have asked the Vancouver Port Authority to extend hours of operation but have been told that the port needs nighttime and weekends to “bulldoze” — to knock down piles of containers that come off the barges and to rearrange the yard. “They’re trying to get caught up, but it’s like one step forward and two back,” he says. “It’s upsetting to a lot of us who have impeccable service records. The whole industry is stressed.”