By Leo Quigley, AJOTFollowing is a look at developments at selected ports on Canada’s West Coast.Port of VancouverIn early November the federal government finally gave its approval for construction of a C$30 million third berth at the Port of Vancouver’s largest container handling facility, Deltaport. Despite the urgency for increased container capacity up and down the West Coast, the approval process took roughly 3½ years to complete. Patrick McLaughlin, director of planning and development, said the port launched the approval process by filing a letter of intent in February, 2003. “It’s been a very thorough, very comprehensive review process,” he said. During the process the VPA held extensive public meetings and agreed to 150 key commitments designed to protect the environment. Once completed, the third berth will increase the handling capacity at Deltaport from 900,000 teus to 1.3 million teus. This increased capacity is badly needed at the port, which saw container traffic at mid-year increase from 853,238 teus to 1,035,189 teus at its three container terminals and is expecting container traffic to easily surpass two million teus by year-end. The VPA will oversee the marine construction, habitat compensation, and long-term environmental monitoring components while terminal operator, TSI, will carry out the yard construction and equipment acquisition. President and CEO of TSI terminals Capt. Norman Stark said, “As the terminal operator, we are faced with the task of moving increased volumes of cargo every day. This expansion is needed to help us meet the import and export requirements of our customers.” Port of Prince RupertConstruction of Fairview Terminal, the Port of Prince Rupert’s first container terminal is proceeding on schedule. President and CEO, Don Krusel, says pilings have now been installed and crews are beginning work on the steel and concrete decking with construction “on time and on budget.” Krusel also said that plans for a second terminal to be located on Ridley Island are moving ahead. “If you look at the total objective of the BC Port Strategy, of nine million teus by 2020, and you take a look at development plans for the Port of Vancouver, there is a need for a second terminal here in the Port of Prince Rupert.” Krusel said the next step in the planning process for “Terminal Two” will be to prepare the initial design and engineering. Funding, he said, could come from government and “private sector participation.” Krusel also noted that the fact that Fairview Terminal and Terminal Two are coming on stream now, rather than 50 years ago, provides Prince Rupert with the ability to plan for existing issues confronting the industry, such as the ability to handle backhaul containers efficiently. Krusel also said the new terminal will benefit substantially from the federal government’s October announcement that it will provide C$28 million to the port over four years for security, including a container examination facility. “The commitment eliminates an earlier concern that the facility and Canada Customs services at the new terminal would be charged back to the Prince Rupert Port Authority on a ‘cost recovery’ basis,” he said. Fraser PortHapag-Lloyd’s purchase of CP Ships last year, and Hapag-Lloyd’s subsequent move to a Port of Vancouver terminal was a major blow to Fraser Port. However, according to spokesman Mark Erdman, the river port is gradually making a comeback. “Year-to-date (YTD) totals reached 24,554,313 tons, reflecting only a three percent decline compared to the first three quarters of the previous year.” This, he said, despite a 73% decline in container volumes due to the loss of CP Ships. However, while container volumes were disappointing for the river port, automobile imports increased to 106,275 compared to 82,703 for the same period last year. “Automobiles showed a healthy increase of 15% for the quarter,” he said. Also, steel imports hit 300,044 tons for the quarter, which represented a 37% YTD increase a