More than 20 boats lined up

A strike by dockworkers at major ports on Canada’s west coast has continued for more than 10 days. Canada’s two largest Pacific ports, Vancouver and Prince Rupert, remain shut down. More than two dozen ships began lining up at the anchorage, and rail operations for the United States were virtually halted. Several shipping companies announced port departures.

 

The British Columbia Maritime Employers Association (BCMEA) claims the strike has had a “catastrophic economic impact,” with $4.6 billion worth of cargo affected since July 1, when about 7,500 longshoremen went on strike at more than 30 ports.

 

Cargo handling has been suspended since July 1, resulting in a backlog of cargo at 30 ports in the region. The ports of Vancouver and Prince Rupert, which were affected by the strike, handle nearly 20 per cent of US cargo, including vital goods such as cars and their key parts, holiday goods and consumer goods.

 

Charlotte Cook, senior trade analyst at VesselsValue, said the strike would have a major impact on shipments on both sides of the Pacific. The two ports handle an average of 34 container ships, or nearly 290,000 TEU containers per month, worth about $19 billion based on a value of $65,000 per container. A strike would lead to a backlog of goods and port congestion, reigniting shipping delays during the pandemic and passing additional costs on to consumers.

 

Although talks between the employers, the British Columbia Maritime Employers Association (BCMEA) and the ILWU union resumed over the weekend under the auspices of a federal mediator, the two sides still appear far apart in reaching agreement on a new Labour contract. The strike is still ongoing.

Ships lined up for berthing and the shipping company announced a diversion

Carrier Hapag-Lloyd said on Friday that “given the current conditions in Vancouver, ships are slowing down or heading to anchorage” and that occupancy in Vancouver’s anchorage “is currently 70 per cent.”

The alliance’s members include Hapag-Lloyd, ONE, Yangming Marine and HMM, and seven container ships will arrive in Vancouver this week. Hapag-lloyd warned customers of a “challenging and evolving situation at Western Canadian ports.” According to reports, both rail and truck-road transport, import and export services have been halted.

 

MarineTraffic’s ship location data shows more than 20 commercial vessels lined up outside British Columbia ports: nine container ships, seven bulk carriers and one general cargo ship waiting outside Vancouver’s port; Four container ships are in the vicinity of Prince Rupert and three others are waiting at anchorage further offshore.

 

The U.S. chapter of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union says it won’t process diverted ships, and given that Prince Rupert can handle up to two ships at a time and Vancouver can handle five, each of which can take two to three days to operate, the current number of ships represents at least a full week of backlog, and carriers may stop taking bookings for Canada’s west coast. Ship tracking data shows 15 container ships bound for Vancouver and nine bound for Prince Rupert, but are currently unable to divert to the United States.

 

According to the latest eeSea data on the 10th, four container ships bound for Vancouver have changed their original port call, stopping in Seattle before returning to Vancouver. The four ships are OOCL San Francisco, CMA CGM Medea, Yantian and Hyundai Faith.

 

In addition, two more “MSC Sara Elena” and “Ever Safety” container ships have confirmed that they will no longer call at Canadian ports, but will only call at the West Coast of the United States.

 

eeSea data also shows that there are currently eight ships waiting in anchorage outside Vancouver, with another eight ships on their way to the port. In Prince Rupert, five ships were waiting outside the port. Destine Ozuygur, head of operations at eeSea, said it was expected that more ships could jump port and be diverted thereafter.