Vancouver ports talk about merging ops

VANCOUVER — The three largest port authorities on the West Coast are talking about integrating their operations to create the second-largest port in North America.

Top execs from the Vancouver Port Authority, the Fraser River Port Authority, and North Fraser Port Authority, along with Transportation Minister Lawrence Cannon, have begun discussing the possibility, the Globe & Mail reported recently.

Talks regarding an amalgamation of the three ports have been ongoing for years, reports the Globe, but China’s rise as an exporting giant and limitless appetite for raw materials has increased the urgency for co-operation.

It the merge is successful, VanPort would be only second to Long Beach, Calif. as the largest port in North America.

VanPort would become the second largest on the
continent if all three ports merged operations

The Vancouver Port — already the biggest in Canada — is trying to strengthen its image with world markets after a series of labor disruptions over the last couple years involving truckers, railways, and tug and barge operators.

During last summer’s six-week strike by 1,200 independent truckers working the ports, many big box shippers warned that they would consider diverting freight away from Vancouver if similar stoppages continued to plague the port.

Reports that surging demand is quickly outpacing capacity, as well as a host of other infrastructure challenges, has also sent VanPort officials looking for new solutions.

Each port has a specialized area, although there is overlap between them. The port in Vancouver is dominated by container traffic and Fraser River Port receives automobiles arriving from overseas. North Fraser Port, which includes the Vancouver International Airport, is used primarily for shipping logs.

The three ports would attempt to evenly distribute freight among the different authorities and increase volume for everyone, states the Globe report.

Container traffic reached a new record of 1.77 million TEUs (twenty foot equivalent units) in 2005. That number is expected to skyrocket to 5.41 million in 2015, an average annual growth rate of 10.2 percent.

By 2008, capacity at these terminals — plus a new one current being built in Prince Rupert — will be 3.79 million TEUs.

— with files from the Globe & Mail