Robert Lewis-Manning: Ships at anchor: Not so hidden lessons from railway blockades
Credit to Author: Hardip Johal| Date: Wed, 26 Feb 2020 02:00:45 +0000
If you live on the coast of B.C., it is impossible to miss the impacts of the recent blockades of railways and ports. Ships waiting for Canadian export cargo to arrive at major west coast ports are now occupying every possible anchorage position in local waters and even loitering off the coast, and the situation will likely become more dire in the short-term. Even if the Canadian transportation system resumed its full capacity tomorrow, the recovery will take many weeks.
Canada’s transportation framework is a system of networks and, like any network, if it is not managed with a systems approach, a single point of failure can result in a breakdown of the network. The government of Canada has neglected the fact that Canada’s diverse trade and its supply chain extends into the waterways and depends upon the availability of safe anchorages. The blockades and other recent issues affecting rail and port services highlight the serious need for a systems approach to planning and managing Canada’s waterways.
Anchorages are a vital component of the Canadian transportation framework. Ships use them as safe haven for required pre-loading inspections, to wait for the arrival of specific commodities to coastal terminals, and to progress preparations for voyages to global markets. Despite the goal of shippers to manage cargos responsibly with “just in time delivery,” ships may make multiple visits to terminals from anchorages until they are fully and safely loaded for a trans-Pacific voyage. Of the over 12,000 movements of vessels on the B.C. coast last year, 44 per cent of these were to or from anchorages.
Having predictable, managed and monitored anchorages is essential to the success of exporting Canada’s high-valued natural resources, agricultural, and forestry products. While this happens within Canadian ports, there is a lack of management elsewhere. In fact, Transport Canada has been unwilling to exercise its authority to establish additional anchorages. Even a small number of additional anchorages for large ships would make a substantial difference — ten new anchorages could increase trade fluidity and reduce impacts to local communities. Canada should amend key legislation and implement a management plan that recognizes these requirements, in addition to minimizing environmental, cultural, and social impacts.
Canada’s coastal waters need managed shipping corridors that include additional anchorages. In this respect, Canada has inadvertently made the products and commodities that Canadian businesses produce and export globally less competitive through an overly complex and fragmented approach to evaluating and managing commercial marine shipping that respects international conventions.
There are 16 existing federal program initiatives in B.C. that influence commercial marine shipping and this number is likely to increase. These initiatives include but are not limited to the development of protected areas, the management of emissions, marine shipping contingency planning, protecting endangered marine species, and addressing concerns of Indigenous and coastal communities. In almost all cases, there is little integration or coordination between initiatives as it relates to shipping, and a complete lack of harmonization of these programs with Canadian supply chain and trade objectives.
If concerns regarding commercial marine shipping are to be addressed appropriately in a systems approach, there will need to be drastic improvements to regional oversight and management, and improved coordination between regions, federal departments, and national headquarters. Ideally, Canada would have a single maritime authority like many nations, including the United States, Australia and Singapore.
Commercial shipping results in $30 billion of economic activity annually in Canada and moves more than $200 billion worth of goods to and from global markets. The marine transportation sector is vital to supporting Canadian trade, and Canada’s continued prosperity and high standard of living depends on our ability to deliver resources, goods, and people in a responsible and competitive manner. At a time when trade is increasingly vulnerable to both external and internal factors, every effort should be made to maximize the efficiency of Canada’s marine transportation corridors, including anchorages, while meeting expectations for increased coastal protection and addressing climate change.
Robert Lewis-Manning is president of the Vancouver-based Chamber of Shipping.
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