| West Coast
ports report mixed results |
|
(Vancouver, April 23, 2004)… No
progress has been reported in negotiations to end a strike
by tug and barge operators along Canada's West Coast. The
Deltaport container terminal and Westshore coal handling
facility, 25 miles from Vancouver, have been effectively
closed down by the strike. Deltaport handles about 45 percent
of Vancouver's scheduled container vessel calls.
At Fraser Surrey Docks, 19 miles from Vancouver, some
vessels were arriving without tug assistance and others
were diverted to other ports, said Mike Cornish, CN’s
vice-president for marketing. Two container terminals in
the city's Inner Harbor served by tugs covered by a separate
contract reported minimal delays.
The backlog of about 3,000 containers waiting to be loaded
on Canadian Pacific Railway trains at Fraser Surrey Docks
earlier this week has almost been eliminated, Cornish said.
The backlog of more than 4,100 containers at the Port of
Vancouver has also been whittled down, although exact figures
have not yet been released.
In Edmonton, where CN was holding its annual meeting,
President Hunter Harrison told a conference call of industry
analysts that the railroad normally moves about 500 containers
a day at Deltaport.
Shipments could be diverted to the British Columbia port
of Prince Rupert, near Alaska, "which is being looked
at," he said.
For more information, please call (905) 882-4880, Carlos
Torres, Manager - Transportation Consulting Services.
|
