By Alexander Whiteman
Efforts to decarbonize the shipping sector have taken a step back after IMO overturned plans for new design standards. A bid to impose a 40 per cent efficiency improvement requirement on all containerships built from 2022 onwards – based on 2008 standards – was put in abeyance until IMO meets again next May. (more…)
By Brian Dunn
This year marks the 115th anniversary of the Shipping Federation of Canada and as the years pass, so do its priorities. While the Federation is keeping an eye on Canada’s free trade agreement (CETA) with the European Union which is starting to pay dividends, another key focus is on the environmental front, according to Federation President Michael Broad. There are also the IMO ballast water regulations with requirements to install BWT systems coming into effect between 2019-2024, the global sulphur cap as of 2020, the GHG emission reduction strategy and talk about total decarbonization. “On a global level, it’s an ambitious agenda which will have a huge impact on us and here in Canada, we also have the whale protection agenda on both the east coast and west coast.” (more…)
By R. Bruce Striegler
“I’m an engineer, and engineers build things”, says Alberta-born Neil Camarta, founder and Director of Enlighten Innovations Inc. One of the things Mr. Camarta has ‘built’ and which is currently occupying much of his time, is the development and commercialization of a new bitumen sulphur removal and upgrading technology called DSU, which can be used in upgrading Alberta bitumen. The proprietary technology is undergoing testing at a ten barrel per day, $30 million pilot plant in Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta and has been operational since the end of 2015. Camarta says, “Our pilot plant has confirmed our technology and we are now building a demonstration facility to produce 2500 barrels of finished low sulphur marine fuel from heavy oil stocks. We expect our CLEANSEAS plant to be ready in 2020.” (more…)
Sustainable development and innovation are at the heart of the Montreal Port Authority’s (MPA) business practices and strategic plan.
“The MPA is at the forefront of the marine sector’s movement towards a future where emerging technologies, efficiency and sustainable development go hand in hand,” said President and Chief Executive Officer Sylvie Vachon. “We are an organization that is committed to protecting the environment, to its neighbouring communities, and to its contribution to the economic growth of Montreal, Quebec and Canada. The innovative projects that we are undertaking all have a positive impact on these three pillars of sustainable development.” (more…)
Port Saint John (PSJ) takes seriously its leadership position as an environmental steward of its jurisdictional waters on the Bay of Fundy.
Not only is this a responsibility outlined in the Canada Marine Act, but also “people see the port as the custodians of port waters,” says Capt. Chris Hall, PSJ’s Vice-President of Operations and Harbour Master.
Hall says there are overlapping jurisdictions, federal and provincial, when it comes to the harbour “but locally people see the port as the entity that is overall responsible for it, so I think it is just natural they see the port taking the lead or at least being involved in understanding and safeguarding our environment and mitigating the impact our shared activity may have on our waterways.” (more…)
By Mike Wackett
Less than 16 months before IMO’s 0.5 per cent sulphur cap regulations come into force for merchant shipping, container lines are worried that the estimated $50 billion extra cost of the greener fuel could tip them into bankruptcy. “We’re all going to go bust,” MOL’s President and CEO Junichiro Ikeda told the Financial Times. He expressed his concern that ocean carriers would be unable to recover sufficient amounts from shippers to mitigate the impact of the $300 a tonne extra cost of low-sulphur fuel oil (LSFO). (more…)
