The Port of Vancouver was a port located in and round Vancouver. It was the largest port in Canada, the largest in the Pacific Northwest, and the largest port on the West Coast of North America by metric tons of total cargo, with 76.5 million metric tons.[1] The port amalgamated with the Fraser River Port Authority and the North Fraser Port Authority in 2008 to form Port Metro Vancouver, which has now adopted the Port of Vancouver name.
In terms of container traffic measured in twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU), the port ranked in 2006 as the largest port in Canada, the largest in the Pacific Northwest, the fourth-largest port on the West Coast of North America, and fifth-largest in North America overall.[2]
The Port of Vancouver trades $43 billion in goods with more than 90 trading economies annually. The Vancouver Port Authority was the corporation responsible for management of the port, which, in addition to the city of Vancouver, includes all of Burrard Inlet and Roberts Bank Superport in Delta, a total of 233 kilometres (145mi) to coastline.[3]
The Port of Vancouver is also the world hub for Canadian shipping company, Asia Pacific Marine Container Lines.
The Centerm container and break bulk terminals are leased by P&O Ports, which was acquired by Dubai Ports World in 2005.
Economic impact
The port generates 30,100 direct jobs through its activities. Employment is generated by five sectors related to the port: maritime cargo, cruise industry, capital investment in port facilities, shipbuilding and repair, and non-maritime enterprises. Maritime cargo is the largest of these sectors, generating more than 21,000 direct jobs. The cruise sector is the next largest, generating almost 5,600 direct jobs. Factoring in the multiplier effects (including indirect jobs), the port has a total employment impact of 69,200 jobs across all five sectors. The jobs created by the port pay on average 52% higher than the average wage in British Columbia.
The port contributed $1.8 billion in direct GDP and $4.1 billion in direct economic output to the Canadian economy in 2004. When multiplier effects are taken into account, these figures increase to $4.0 billion in GDP and $8.9 billion in economic output. The port's economic impact extends into Western Canada and beyond, with most of the exports shipped through the port produced outside of Greater Vancouver, and many of the imports intended for markets outside of the Lower Mainland.
The port is the home port for the Vancouver–Alaska cruise, which occurs annually from May to September, with more than 1 million revenue passengers on about 300 sailings passing through the port's two cruise terminals, Canada Place and Ballantyne. In 2006 the port hosted 28 ships at its two cruise terminals.
Statistics
In 2006, the port handled 79.4 million tonnes, up 4% from 76.5 million tonnes in 2005.[4] In 2005 the port handled 1.8 million total containers, 910,172 cruise passengers, and 2,677 foreign vessels.[5]
In 2005 the port's top import and export partner nations were:
China – 16,310
Japan – 15,574
South Korea – 7,145
United States – 3,647
Brazil – 3,101
Germany – 2,727
Taiwan – 2,594
Mexico – 1,742
India – 1,719
Italy – 1,638
Container terminal expansion
The Port of Vancouver.
Studies indicate that container traffic on the West Coast of North America is expected to triple in the next 20 years.[6][7][8][9] The Port of Vancouver has the opportunity to capture nearly 7-milliontwenty-foot equivalent units(TEU) by 2020. In order to meet future requirements, the VPA has examined options to increase the port's container terminal capacity. In August 2002, the VPA announced the beginning of the process. The VPA is looking at a three-pronged approach to increasing container capacity at the Port of Vancouver:
Efficiencies at existing terminals
Expansion at existing terminals
Building new facilities
However, the Port of Prince Rupert is also looking to capture the expected increase in container traffic. While both Vancouver and Prince Rupert have direct rail lines to major U.S. destinations such as Chicago, the location of Prince Rupert has the logistical advantage of being closer to major Asian ports.
History
The Port of Vancouver and downtown core in 1929. Dotted lines are water taxi services to North Vancouver, Indian Arm, West Vancouver, Howe Sound and beyond. Close-up of British Columbia Electric Railway system map (click to enlarge)
With the opening of the Panama Canal in 1914, Vancouver's seaport was able to compete with the major international ports for global trade because it was positioned as an alternative route to Europe. During the 1920s, the provincial government successfully fought to eliminate freight rates that discriminated against goods transported by rail through the mountains, giving the young lawyer of the case, future Vancouver Mayor and Canadian senator, Gerry McGeer, a reputation as “the man who flattened the Rockies.”[10] Consequently, Prairie wheat came west through Vancouver rather than being shipped out through eastern ports. The federal government established the Harbour Commission (forerunner to the Port Authority) in the early 1920s to oversee port development. With its completion in 1923, Ballantyne Pier was the most technologically advanced port in the British Empire.[11] The CPR, lumber exporters, terminal operators, and other companies based on the waterfront banded together after World War I to establish the Shipping Federation of British Columbia as an employers’ association to manage industrial relations on the increasingly busy waterfront.[12] The Federation fought vociferously against unionization, defeating a series of strikes and breaking unions until the determined longshoremen established the current ILWU local after the Second World War.[13] By the 1930s, commercial traffic through the port had become the largest sector in Vancouver's economy.[14]
Merger
On January 1, 2008, the Port of Vancouver officially amalgamated with two other local port authorities, the North Fraser Port Authority and the Fraser River Port Authority, into a new organization, called the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority.[15]
↑ "British Columbia Ports Strategy" - Ministry of Small Business and Economic Development & Ministry of Transportation - Province of British Columbia - March 18, 2005 - (Adobe Acrobat *.PDF document)
↑ Yarmie, Andrew. “The Right to Manage: Vancouver Employers’ Associations, 1900-1923,” BC Studies, no. 90 (1991): 40-74.
↑ Phillips, Paul A. No Power Greater: A Century of Labour in British Columbia. Vancouver: BC Federation of Labour/Boag Foundation, 1967.
↑ Leah Stevens, “Rise of the Port of Vancouver,” Economic Geography 12, no. 1 (January 1936): 61-70, and R. C. McCandless, “Vancouver’s ‘Red Menace’ of 1935: The Waterfront Situation,” BC Studies 22 (1974): 56-70.
Nanaimo is a city of about 100,000 on the east coast of Vancouver Island, in British Columbia, Canada. "The Harbour City" was previously known as the "Hub City", which was attributed to its original layout design with streets radiating from the shoreline like the spokes of a wagon wheel, and to its relatively central location on Vancouver Island. Nanaimo is the headquarters of the Regional District of Nanaimo.
Prince Rupert is a port city in the province of British Columbia, Canada. Its location is on Kaien Island near the Alaskan panhandle. It is the land, air, and water transportation hub of British Columbia's North Coast, and has a population of 12,220 people as of 2016.
Burrard Inlet is a relatively shallow-sided fjord in northwestern Lower Mainland, British Columbia, Canada. Formed during the last Ice Age, it separates the City of Vancouver and the rest of the lowland Burrard Peninsula to the south from the coastal slopes of the North Shore Mountains, which span West Vancouver and the City and District of North Vancouver to the north.
The Port of Miami, styled as PortMiami and formally known as the Dante B. Fascell Port of Miami, is a major seaport located in Biscayne Bay at the mouth of the Miami River in Miami, Florida. It is the largest passenger port in the world and one of the largest cargo ports in the United States.
The Port of Prince Rupert is a seaport managed by the Prince Rupert Port Authority that occupies 667,731 hectares of land and water along 20 kilometres of waterfront. The port is located in Prince Rupert Harbour in the North Coast Regional District of British Columbia.
Seaspan ULC provides marine-related services to the Pacific Northwest. Within the Group are three shipyards, an intermodal ferry and car float business, along with a tug and barge transportation company that serves both domestic and international markets. Seaspan, is part of the Washington Companies that are owned by Dennis Washington. Kyle Washington, is the Executive Chairman of Seaspan, who has become a Canadian citizen.
Port Tampa Bay, known as the Port of Tampa until January 2014, is the largest port in the state of Florida and is overseen by the Tampa Port Authority, a Hillsborough County agency. The port is located in Tampa, Florida near downtown Tampa's Channel District. The port directly accesses Tampa Bay on the western coast of the Florida Suncoast, and is approximately 25 sea miles from the Gulf of Mexico. The port district includes parts of Tampa Bay, Hillsborough Bay, McKay Bay, Old Tampa Bay and the Hillsborough River. The port serves container ships, tank ships, and cruise lines.
The British Columbia Coast, popularly referred to as the BC Coast or simply the Coast, is a geographic region of the Canadian province of British Columbia. As the entire western continental coastline of Canada along the Pacific Ocean is in the province, it is synonymous with being the West Coast of Canada.
Vancouver's economy is one of the most vibrant in Canada. The British Columbian city is Canada's official gateway to the Pacific Rim, a major port, and the main western terminus of transcontinental highway and rail routes. Vancouver has successfully transitioned from a predominantly resource-based economy to a diverse knowledge-based one, and in recent years has been the fastest growing economy in Canada. According to the Conference Board of Canada, in 2017 Vancouver's GDP was CA$137billion, with a GDP growth rate of 4.5%, meaning that Vancouver represents approximately 7.5% of Canada's overall economy. Major economic sectors include trade, film and TV, technology, tourism, natural resources, and construction.
The Port of Montreal is a cruise and transshipment point located on the St. Lawrence River in Montreal, Québec, Canada. The port operates as an international container port where it services Toronto and the rest of Central Canada, the Midwestern United States, and the Northeastern United States. Though found on the Saint Lawrence Seaway and some 1,600 miles (2,600 km) inland from the Atlantic Ocean, it is the shortest direct route between Europe and the Mediterranean, with the North American Midwest.
The British Columbia Maritime Employers Association is an association representing the interests of member companies in industrial relations on Vancouver's and other British Columbian seaports.
The Halifax Regional Municipality (HRM) is a major generator of economic activity in Atlantic Canada.
The Port of Vancouver is the largest port in Canada and the fourth largest in North America by tonnes of cargo, facilitating trade between Canada and more than 170 world economies. The port is managed by the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority, which was created in 2008 as an amalgamation of the former Port of Vancouver, the North Fraser Port Authority, and the Fraser River Port Authority. It is the principal authority for shipping and port-related land and sea use in the Metro Vancouver region.
The Virginia Port Authority (VPA) is an autonomous agency of the Commonwealth of Virginia that owns The Port of Virginia, a group of facilities with their activity centered on the harbor of Hampton Roads, Virginia.
The Barbours Cut Container Terminal, or simply the Barbours Cut Terminal, is a major deep water port in the Greater Houston area in the U.S. state of Texas. It is part of one of the world's busiest ports by cargo tonnage.
The Port of Charleston is a seaport located in South Carolina in the Southeastern United States. The port's facilities span three municipalities — Charleston, North Charleston, and Mount Pleasant — with six public terminals owned and operated by the South Carolina Ports Authority (SCPA). These facilities handle containers, motor vehicles and other rolling stock, non-containerized goods and project cargo, as well as Charleston's cruise ship operation. Additional facilities in the port are privately owned and operated, handling bulk commodities like petroleum, coal and steel.
The Northwest Seaport Alliance is a port authority based in the Puget Sound region of the United States, comprising the seaports of Seattle and Tacoma in Washington state. The combined port authority is the third largest cargo port in the United States and by container volume.
British Columbia (B.C.) is the third largest Canadian province by population and fourth largest provincial economy. Like other provinces in the Canadian federation, B.C. consists of both private and public institutions. However, as Canada's westernmost province, located between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, B.C. has unique economic characteristics that distinguish it from much of the rest of Canada.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
