Amidst uneven but still encouraging economic trends in Canada and the United States, marine terminal operators based in Eastern Canada appear to be maintaining or increasing their commercial market shares – whether in containerized, breakbulk or bulk cargo. At Montreal Gateway Terminals Partnership (MGT), chief executive officer Kevin Doherty told AJOT that “our container volumes are pretty consistent, ahead by two to three percent from last year. “We see the present slowdown in the Canadian economy as a blip. At the same time, the US economy is showing strength while European economies have been showing improvement.” The MGT Cast and Racine terminals generate more than half of Montreal’s annual container throughput of 1.3 million TEUs. About one third of this traffic stems from box shipments to and from the US Midwest. The two large MGT terminals are serviced by CN and Canadian Pacific railways with direct connections with major American railroads. They are also connected to the network of highways that lead directly to markets in Quebec, Ontario, Western Canada as well as the United States. Major carriers calling at these terminals include Maersk, Hapag-Lloyd, OOCL, Hanjin, CMA CGM, and MSC. Roger Carré, general manager of Maisonneuve Terminal (Termont), an important facility notably for MSC and Hapag-Lloyd at Montreal, also reports that “container volumes are steady like last year. It’s pretty balanced in both directions.” A subsidiary of Montreal-based Fednav Limited, Federal Marine Terminals (FMT) has for more than four decades been operating stevedoring facilities at ports in Canada and the United States. With nine operations covering 11 ports, FMT is active on the US East Coast, the Gulf Coast and in the Great Lakes. Its marine terminal operations handle breakbulk, bulk, containerized, project and general cargoes. The commodities handled range from steel and machinery to forest products. Biggest terminal on the Canadian side of the Great Lakes is at the Port of Hamilton, which is also the leading Canadian Great Lakes port. Fednav management regards the terminals as both a diversification and value-added component of its marine-related activities. “We are diversified enough geographically so we can spread things out,” notes Paul Pathy, co-CEO of Fednav Limited. As an example, recent booming construction materials activity in Florida (where Fednav has a stevedoring operation in Port Manatee) helped to offset generally slower volumes in the Great Lakes. Activity has also picked up in Albany, Burns Harbor, and Eastport, Maine. Pathy also reports that current brisk activity in the Gulf terminals is helping to compensate for “slowdowns elsewhere.” At Logistec Corporation, which provides cargo handling in 24 ports in Eastern Canada, the Great Lakes and the US East Coast, a distinctly bullish outlook prevails following the recent release of record financial results. In the first half of 2013, consolidated revenue totaled C$130 million versus C$104.7 million for the first six months of 2012. “We believe that the second half of 2013 is also looking very promising, as demand for our marine services is growing both in Canada and the United States,” stated Logistec president and CEO Madeleine Paquin. In its extensive network, Logistec Stevedoring handles a wide range of cargoes – including forest products, metals, dry bulk, fruit, grain, containers, general and project cargo. For his part, Andrew Chodos, president and CEO of Montreal-based Empire Stevedoring, says “we are showing steady volumes of the past few years. Niche markets are holding up well.” Empire Stevedoring has an extensive network of terminals throughout Eastern Canada and US Gulf ports, handling a variety of cargoes ranging from grain, potash, scrap metals, forest products, breakbulk, containers and project cargo. “Most of the bulk is exported to various markets, including South America and breakbulk is mainly imported,” Chodos said. The terminal network comprises operations at the ports of Montreal, Halifax, Thunder Bay, Saint John, Houston, New Orleans, Alabama and Baton Rouge. Describing the chief activities of various ports, Chodos said: “Montreal is our biggest port, Halifax is biggest for breakbulk and Saint is biggest for bulk, especially potash.” At Bickerdike Terminal in Montreal, Empire’s handles cargo from such heavy lift and project specialists as Jumbo Navigation and BBC Chartering. A major customer, too, is Oceanex, which offers a regular container/ro ro service linking Montreal and St. John’s, Newfoundland. This service was boosted this fall by the delivery from a German shipyard of the Oceanex Connaigra, Canada’s largest con/ro ship designed to carry containers, trucks, trailers, cars and oversized cargo.