Prince Rupert master plan identifies container capacity potential up to 7 million TEUs

Among the fastest-growing ports in North America, the Port of Prince Rupert has announced the completion of a container terminal master plan that outlines the potential of future container terminal capacity and sequencing of development at the Pacific gateway in northern British Columbia. The planning work identifies the long-term potential to develop six to seven million TEUs of capacity through the development of multiple terminals.

In releasing the master plan, port officials reiterated their big ambition of transforming Prince Rupert into Canada’s second largest port after Vancouver within five years, overtaking Montreal. A significant percentage of Prince Rupert cargo volume is with the US Midwest via the CN rail network. Last year, Prince Rupert handled one million TEUs and 27 million metric tons of cargo. Montreal handled 39 million tons and over 1.5 million TEUs.

The plan’s research was completed with the assistance of AECOM, a global leader in infrastructure planning and development. It considered capital costs, operating efficiencies, optimization of construction sequencing to minimize disruptions to ongoing operations, and mitigation of human receptor impacts (air quality, noise and lighting) as criteria to determine the feasibility and sequencing of container terminal potential at the Port of Prince Rupert.

“Conducting this work ensures we have a clear understanding of the future potential for terminal development and contributes to a vision for the future of our container business to respond to the growing market demand for capacity at the Port of Prince Rupert,” said Shaun Stevenson, president and CEO of the Prince Rupert Port Authority.
The master planning concluded the potential for further expansion of Fairview Terminal and the development of a second container terminal at the Port of Prince Rupert’s South Kaien Island site.

This second terminal features a capacity of 2.5 million TEUs and was identified as the next phase of terminal expansion for the container business at the Port of Prince Rupert following the expansion of Fairview Container Terminal announced with DP World in 2018, increasing its current capacity from 1.35 million TEUs to 1.8 million TEUs by 2022. Both the current Fairview Terminal and South Kaien sites are in close proximity to expanding export logistics operations on Ridley Island, and will fully integrate with these operations following PRPA’s construction of the Fairview-Ridley Connector Corridor scheduled for the end of 2020.