Halifax prepares for bigger vessels

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Competing with some major ports on the Nor[ds_preview]th American East Coast, the Canadian port of Halifax aims to enlarge its capacity to handle vessels exceeding 10,000 TEU.

The Port Authority announced that a significant master planning was commenced to prepare for the arrival of ‘ultra-class’ containerized vessels. The port development consultancy firm WSP/Parsons Brinckerhoff Engineering Services has been hired to lead the master planning exercise. It is planned to the port »for the next five to 10 years«.

Additionally, the Halifax Port Authority is working with partners including Halifax Regional Municipality and CN to identify alternative means of reducing the amount of container truck traffic in downtown Halifax.

According to the ports CEO Paul MacIsaac, the »Ocean Alliance« has started bringing larger vessels to Halterm and its South End Container Terminal and the G6 Alliance has added calls and larger vessels to Ceres, operating the Fairview Cove Container Terminal. The port describes itself as the »most easterly North American full-service container port« and »First inbound, last outbound port to North America from Europe and the Med./Suez«. Over the last five years, $250 million of private sector port-related money has been invested. The Port Authority has invested over $100 million in that time period and continues to invest annually. »Halifax is in an excellent position to accept those vessels because of our deep harbour, our uncongested port, our rail networks, our excellent partnerships and our experienced labour,« MacIsaac said to local media.

Today, Halifax can berth a vessel up to 16,000 TEU, but the goal of a master planning process is to identify ways to berth two 13,000-14,000 TEU vessels simultaneously, McIsac added. »With the widening of the Panama Canal, the additional lane of the Suez Canal, vessels in that range are now being deployed along the East Coast of North America. Halifax is well situated to take part in this evolution.«

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In the third quarter, the port saw a growth in container throughput by 9.9 %. Since the beginning of the year, the volumes climbed even 16,1% to 354,500 TEU.