Tag: Canada

Port of Vancouver, BC, Canada re-opened to Hull cleaning and Propeller polishing The global shipping industry remains stuck betweeninternational and regional regulatory requirements andefficient cost effective ship operations.Environmentalistscontinue to keep ships in the spotlight by focusing theirattacks on the air pollution produced by ships. Regionaland local port authorities remain focused on keeping theirwaters free of invasive species and metals like copper,nickel and other harmful chemicals potentially releasedduring routine hull maintenance cleaning and propellerpolishing.Considering the fact that more and more localport authorities are closing the door on hull cleaning andpropeller polishing, theSubsea Solutions Alliancehasbeen focused on finding methods of performing thesecritical maintenance items in an environmentally friendlyway that keeps our regulatory authorities happy andcustomer operations efficient. Investing over 2 years oftime and resources and almost a million US dollars into theresearch and development program for an innovativemethod of Hull Cleaning, the Subsea Solutions Allianceis pleased to announce that our environmentally friendlycleaning machine has been approved for use in the port ofVancouver, Canada.With the port of Vancouver, Canada being closed to hull cleaning for several yearsnow, the Subsea Solutions Alliance could not remain idle, considering the fact that each and every daycustomer inquiries for this critical service continued to pour in to ...

Canada becomes the first nation to announce its withdrawal from the Kyoto protocol

Canada's Governement has long been hostile to the Kyoto agreement Canada made good Monday onspeculation that surfaced two weeks ago regarding the country's intentions to withdraw from the Kyoto Protocol.Speaking at a news conference in Ottawa, Canada's minister for the environment, Peter Kent,said the decision would save the nation some $14 billion in penalties that would accrue for failure to meet emissions targets agreed to by a previous government in the 1997 pact -- the first international accord aimed at reducing global emissions of planet-warming gases."As we have said, Kyoto -- for Canada -- is in the past," Kent said, according to awire transcriptforwarded by the environment ministry. Kent had just returned fromglobal climate talks in Durban, South Africa. "As such," he continued, "we are invoking our legal right to formally withdraw from Kyoto."Canada's conservative government under Stephen Harper, who assumed the title of prime minister in 2006, has long been hostile to the Kyoto agreement, which wasratified by Liberal Party Prime Minister Jean Chrétien in 2002.The Harper government has charged its predecessors with never making any real attempts to comply with Kyoto's emissions limits. It has also issued concerns, shared by the U.S. and other developed countries, that Kyoto's ...

Aiming to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 25% on local ferry routes The Government of Québec and the Société des traversiers have been working together towards a goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 25% on local ferry routes.To further that purpose, they made a business agreement with Gaz Métro Transportation Solution. This company will supply the natural gas for the two new LNG powered ferries running the Tadoussac-Baie-Sainte-Catherine crossing and one new ferry that will operate the Matane-Baie-Comeau-Godbout service.Norman MacMillan, minister for transport and responsible for the Outaouais region, and Georges Farrah, president and CEO of la Société des traversiers du Québec, unveiled the design and technology choices for the construction of the vessels. The meeting was also attended by Sophie Brochu, president and CEO of Gaz Métro, the company in charge of transportation and distribution of natural gas in Quebec.Tadoussac's ships, which will be delivered by the autumn of 2013 and spring of 2014, will have a vehicle capacity of 47% more than the current ones. Each one will be able to carry 440 passengers and 110 cars. The Matane's ferry will have a capacity of 800 passengers and 180 vehicles. In addition, the ships' configurations, especially ramp ...

Canada has no intention of allowing the state of New York to dictate ballast water regulations Well-attended ballast water policy teleconference briefing by the Canadian Minister of Transport served notice that Canada has no intention of allowing the state of New York to dictate ballast water regulations, nor impede commerce on the St. Laurence Seaway.The message delivered by Canada's Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities and for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario, Pierre Poilievre, was simple enough: we do not agree with the state of New York on ballast water issues and we will not allow our ocean commerce to suffer because of it. The teleconference, broadcast from Ottawa, provided a briefing on ballast water requirements on the St. Lawrence Seaway.Poilievre told journalists on Thursday morning, "Canada is very concerned with the New York ballast water standard." Referring to New York's position of a ballast water treatment standard that is 100 times more stringent than the IMO's soon-to-be-ratified benchmark, he added that New York's position, if enforced, could shut down traffic, domestic trade and trade with the United States. Today, Poilievre is scheduled to be in New York to discuss Canadian concerns with ...

Voyage Data Recorder Regulations for marine safety The Honourable DenisLebel, Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities, today announced that under new regulations, certain large passenger and cargo vessels will be required to have voyage data recorders. Similar to an airplane's black box, the equipment captures critical information to help investigations into accidents at sea."The safety of vessels is a priority for our government and we are committed to making continuous enhancements in marine safety," said MinisterLebel. "Should an accident occur, information from a vessel's voyage data recorder can be used to help investigators learn more quickly and more thoroughly the cause and what can be done to help prevent a reoccurrence."The Voyage Data Recorder Regulations will require, as of January1,2012, that new passenger vessels of 500gross tonnage or more and new cargo vessels of 3,000gross tonnage or more not engaged on an international voyage be fitted with voyage data recorders. Owners of existing passenger vessels have until July1,2015, to install the equipment, depending on their inspection schedule. The new safety measure addresses a Transportation Safety Board recommendation highlighted in its Watchlist earlier this year.The regulations also implement the voyage data recorder requirements under the International Convention for the Safety of ...

Marine Liability Act On October25,2011, Canada took part in a ceremony to sign a protocol that will establish a global liability regime and further protect our environment from the risks of marine transport. The Protocol of2010 to the International Convention on Liability and Compensation for Damage in Connection with the Carriage of Hazardous and Noxious Substances by Sea,1996 was signed at the International Maritime Organization (IMO) in London, UnitedKingdom. Canada was one of the states that led the development of this important protocol at the IMO.The protocol will be tabled in Parliament this fall, and subsequently amendments to the Marine Liability Act will be introduced to implement the protocol by ensuring that compensation is available for victims of marine pollution and that polluters are held responsible. Following its ratification, Canada will be able to implement the protocol."Canada is a trading nation that depends to a large degree on marine transport for its exports and imports, and it is vital that we have strong rules to protect our environment," said the Honourable DenisLebel, Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities. "These amendments will provide increased levels of compensation to those affected by pollution from hazardous and noxious substances that is caused by ...

New regulations will put 72,000 jobs and $10.7 billion on both borders at serious risk. Last week New York state officials announced that they will be implementing stringent ballast water treatment standards for all vessels crossing the St. Lawrence, which according to a new study will put 72,000 jobs and $10.7 billion on both borders at serious risk.While the Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway already possesses some of the strictest regulations when it comes to the prevention of invasive species via ballast water, New York is going to require that all ships transiting through its waters to install equipment that will sterilize ballast water to a standard 100 to 1,000 times the current international standards. The legislation says that the ships must have the equipment installed for 100 times international standard by August 1st, 2013, and 1,000 times standard by August 1st, 2014.Scientists and shipping industry are both left appalled, as the regulations would nearly choke all trade between the passages. Executives of the Canadian St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corp., the U.S. St. Lawrence Seaway Development Corp. and various shipping firms have said that this type of regulation is impossible to meet. A study by Martin Associates, an economic consulting ...

Threatening the economies of all trading nations, including Canada The first pirates Capt. Steve Waddell encountered weren't wearing puffy shirts, tri-cornered hats or as much dark eyeliner as Disney's Jack Sparrow.Instead they were decked out in Gucci watches and ill-fitting Armani suits, claiming to be Somali fishermen aboard a small, open-decked skiff Waddell and his crew confronted in the treacherous seas off the Horn of Africa."I'm not sure why they considered that pirate attire," said Waddell, who in 2009 commanded the frigate HMCS Fredericton on one of Canada's first anti-piracy naval missions to the region.A Canadian boarding party confronted the skiff, confiscated guns and gasoline from the group, and sent them back to the Somali coast. Waddell watched as the Somalis high-fived each other, happy to be released, as they motored away from the warship."That's the reality of anti-piracy operations off Somalia," Waddell told an audience of lawyers with the Canadian Bar Association on Tuesday.He and other experts, who spoke at the bar's annual meeting in Halifax, say piracy is a serious, resurgent security issue that threatens the economies of all trading nations, including Canada.Worse, solutions to the problem remain far from clear.Among the thorny questions facing maritime and military ...

Ships will prefer passing through northern Russia as ice continues to melt Russian Arctic shipping routes would attract more traffic than Canada's Northwest Passage - both made increasingly accessible by melting polar ice - a French envoy predicted Monday."I have the impression that Canada has given up on the competition to attract a large part of the traffic in 25 or 30 years," said France's roving ambassador for polar regions Michel Rocard.The former French prime minister spoke to AFP in Montreal after a tour of the Arctic aboard the Canadian icebreaker Amundsen."The road eastward along the Siberian coast is less winding (than the Northwest Passage in Canada's north) . . . there are fewer islands (to navigate around) and finally, it has fewer risks and is more direct, even if it's a bit longer," he said.Russia currently requires that any vessel or convoy travelling along its northern frontier be accompanied by two icebreakers, Rocard said.But U.S. researchers have said global warming could leave the region ice-free by 2030.Canada is "too small to finance itself the infrastructure" needed to spur commercial shipping through in its Arctic - a shorter route between European and Asian markets than the Suez and Panama canals.Russia ...