Over the past 10 years, container ports along the western seaboard of Canada in the province of British Columbia have continued to experience substantial growth in throughput. Annual container volumes have grown from 2.6 million teus in 2007 to 4.5 million teus in 2018, while in neighbouring Washington State throughput at the ports of Seattle and Tacoma have declined slightly from 3.9 million teus to 3.8 million teus in the same time period. As growth in western Canada’s ports continues unabated, major plans are afoot for new and expanded container facilities to meet forecasted demand. In the largest port, Vancouver, expansions have been recently completed, and are underway or proposed at each of their three existing terminals: Centerm, Vanterm and Deltaport. Plans are also well advanced for the new multi-billion dollar three berth RBT2 container terminal. Not to be left behind, the Port of Prince Rupert’s Fairview container terminal, which only opened in 2007, continues to expand making Prince Rupert North America’s fastest growing container port and plans are being developed for a second terminal. In addition to the well established mainland ports, on Vancouver Island growth continues at the Port of Nanaimo’s Duke Point container transhipment facility with plans underway for direct services, while the Port of Port Alberni proposes a major container transhipment hub for the PNW trade. All of this activity represents potential investments of over $7 billion and millions of teus of additional annual capacity. This presentation will provide a synopsis of the developments at each port, and a roadmap of container growth in western Canada which serves the entire North American market.

Harold C. Westerman, Senior Principal, Ports and Marine Terminals, Stantec
Harold Westerman, P.Eng., has over 30 years of experience providing planning, design, construction and project management services for a variety of private and public port and maritime infrastructure projects throughout North America and internationally. These projects have included cruise ship terminals, container ports, dry bulk facilities, LNG terminals, marinas and public waterfront developments. Harold has been responsible for the conceptual, preliminary and detailed design of port infrastructure, securing regulatory permits through a variety of local and federal agencies, tendering and full construction supervision and contract administration services.

Whether planning the next phase of expansion of an existing container terminal to meet growing trade demands, or upgrading existing terminal operations with sustainable and more cost effective container handling equipment, staying current with innovative technologies is paramount to ensure the future success of the supply chain. This presentation will discuss emerging technologies either being considered or already in operation at Canadian marine terminals with a focus on case studies along the west coast. These technologies will include: electric vehicles, autonomous equipment, smart yard systems, blockchain technology, shore power and logistic centres.

Electric vehicles and autonomous technology is not only being used on public roads, the conversion has already started at Canadian container terminals with an emphasis on reducing air emissions, enhancing safety, and saving costs. Electric hybrid container handling vehicles have been implemented at west coast container terminals with significant benefits reported through test pilot programs. Key benefits include: GHG emission reductions, fuel cost savings, community noise reduction, maintenance downtime reduction and yard efficiency optimization.

The Boxbay smart system offers multiple benefits to container yard operations, including 33% less yard area and direct container accessibility. This is a significant benefit when considering logistic centres and marine terminal developments in an urban area with industrial land shortages. With solar power capability, the system also offers renewable energy opportunities, which aligns with resilient infrastructure mandates by the government and further reduces the carbon footprint of the facility.

Blockchain technology is evolving rapidly, changing the shipping world with significant increases in trade volume and ultimately global GDP benefits. Through a digitized filing system (paperless), customers have full visibility at each step along a shipment path through an open platform in which a shared ledger tracks transactions and assets.

Shore power has emerged as an effective means of reducing GHG emissions and terminal noise by replacing diesel powered auxiliary engines with electrical power supplied by on-site terminal facilities. The Port of Vancouver as one example has reported anticipated reductions in GHG emissions in the range of 95 tonnes per vessel call and fuel savings in the range of 30 tonnes per call.

A key trend in the container market has been to further optimize the supply chain through the development of strategically located logistic centres, which can utilize automated equipment to enhance efficiency, increase throughput capacity, and ultimately help balance imports and exports for nearby container terminals.

Joel Werner, Director of Engineering and Projects, DP World (Canada) Inc.
Joel Werner is the Director of Engineering and Projects for DP World (Canada) Inc., responsible for the delivery of a broad range of marine infrastructure projects in British Columbia. His extensive experience includes managing the design and construction of Centerm Expansion Project, Fairview Phase 2A construction, Duke Point Phase 2/3 planning, and Fairview Phase 2B planning, as well as multiple maintenance upgrades at DP World's three container terminals on the west coast.

Kip Skabar, Senior Associate, Infrastructure, Stantec
Kip Skabar’s passion is to design sustainable infrastructure projects that help move people and goods safely and efficiently, while also leaving a legacy in the community for future generations. A Senior Associate on Stantec’s Infrastructure Business Line, he currently leads multi-disciplinary teams on major projects throughout the region including container terminals, shipyard expansions, highway interchanges, road/rail realignments, and grade separations.

The development of the Port of Prince Rupert has been one the most impressive and "disruptive" developments in the North American container terminal industry in the past decade. This terminal overcame sceptics to go from zero to 1M teu per year in its first decade of operations, with plans to expand capacity significantly into the future. What were the drivers of this success, and can it be repeated on the East Coast of Canada with a new terminal at Sydney? This presentation will explore these factors in detail, and compare the strengths and weaknesses of a new terminal in a remote location with older terminals closer to population centres.

Mark Sisson, Senior Port Planner, AECOM

Mark Sisson leads AECOM’s marine analysis group. He is responsible for business development, project execution, and oversight of research and development of our simulation models. Mark has over 24 years of experience managing and executing a wide range of marine and rail terminal planning, simulation, and analysis projects.

Mark received his BS in Civil Engineering at California State Polytechnic University and his MS in Civil Engineering from Northwestern University and is a registered professional engineer in the state of California.