Vancouver is one of the most beautiful cities in Canada, with a natural harbour capable of accommodating the largest ships in the world. It is open to navigation all the year round, and temperatures below zero Centigrade are almost unknown. The Burrard Inlet of the Port of Vancouver is reached under the majestic span of the 4,977 feet long Lions Gate Suspension Bridge, completed in 1938. The towers of the bridge are 380 feet above water level and connect Vancouver and Stanley Park with North and West Vancouver. The surrounding areas of the bridge have for many decades been good vantage points for ship photography. In January 2008, the port took over the Fraser Surrey Docks on the Fraser river leading to New Westminster, and Deltaport at Roberts Bank to the south of the Fraser river entrance with coal terminals, container and project cargo terminals. Port jurisdiction extends over six hundred kilometres of shoreline and extends from Point Roberts on the Canadian/American border through Burrard Inlet to Port Moody and Indian Arm, and from the mouth of the Fraser river east to the Fraser valley, north along the Pitt river to Pitt Lake and includes the north and middle arms of the Fraser river.

Situated at 49-16 degrees north, 123- 07 degrees west, Vancouver is the largest and busiest port in Canada trading $172 billion worth of goods per year with more than 130 countries. Annual port throughput is almost 130 million tonnes in ten categories. Coal (37 million tonnes), Forestry products (29 million tonnes), Grain (20 million tonnes), Bulk minerals and chemicals (15 million tonnes), Petroleum (8 million tonnes), Fertilizers (8 million tonnes), Consumer goods (7 million tonnes), Machinery and construction equipment (5 million tonnes), Processed Food (2 million tonnes), and Animal hides and dairy produce (1 million tonnes). Vancouver has 28 deep sea and domestic marine terminals with two cruise terminals, four container terminals, two breakbulk terminals, two automobile terminals, and eighteen dry and liquid bulk terminals.

History Of The Port

Capt. James Cook was the first European to land in the area on 29th March 1778 at an inlet on Vancouver Island, which he named St. George’s Sound, and he found that it was richly scented with pine and had a great purity of water. He claimed the whole area of British Columbia for the British crown, and the Admiralty later renamed the inlet as Nootka Sound. Fourteen years later, Capt. George Vancouver became the first Englishman to explore the Burrard Inlet and he noted that the naturally deep water would make an ideal location for a port. In 1808, Simon Fraser explored the mouth of the river that now bears his name. In 1827, the Hudson’s Bay Company established Fort Langley and began shipping salmon to markets around the region. The 1850s Gold Rush brought an influx of sail and steam shipping to the Fraser river, and in 1859 the barque D. L. Clinch sailed from New Westminster with 60,000 cubic feet of cabinet wood and fifty barrels of cranberries. She received a thirteen gun salute as she cleared the Fraser carrying the first cargo of British Columbia produce.

The first sawmill opened in New Westminster in 1860, the first of many to locate along the Fraser river, with the Hastings sawmill the first to operate on the south shore of the Burrard Inlet. The sailing ship Ellen Lewis sailed with the first export cargo from Burrard Inlet of lumber, pickets and railway ties for Australia at this time. British Columbia joined the loose amalgamation of the eastern states of the Canadian Convention in 1871, and seventeen years later a rail connection arrived for the first time at Vancouver. The Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) established a Transpacific passenger liner service in 1889, with a subsidy of £60,000 per annum from the British Government to which the Dominion of Canada added £15,000 per annum. In 1927, it opened a new passenger terminal, Pier BC, on the current site of the Canada Place Cruise Terminal with two berths for the ‘Empress’ liners. Ballantyne Pier was completed in 1923 as a Federal Government owned dock built by the National Harbours Board. The CPR, lumber exporters, grain terminal operators, and other waterfront companies established the Shipping Federation of British Columbia as an employer’s organisation at this time.

In 1913, the New Westminster Harbour Commission, the North Fraser Harbour Commission, and the Vancouver Harbour Commission were established. The building of the North Arm Jetty on the Fraser river and the dredging of a proper river channel were major developments at this time. British shipping lines with Transpacific services in 1913 included Blue Funnel Line, Bank Line, Royal Mail Line and Glen Line. The first grain elevator was constructed in Vancouver during the Great War, when shipping tonnage entering the port amounted to 600,000 grt, and after the opening of the Panama Canal in 1914 the elevator was soon busy with big exports of grain. Furness, Withy & Co. Ltd. established a regular cargo-liner service to Vancouver in 1921 from British ports, and Royal Mail Line began a joint service with Holland America Line to British and European ports in the same year.

British, Scandinavian and German vessels participated in the lumber and grain export from British Columbia after 1920. Grain exports in 1921 were one million bushels, and this figure had risen sharply to 74 million bushels by 1929 with six million gross tonnage of shipping arriving. In 1937, the Knutsen of Haugesund motor vessel Elizabeth Bakke set a record from Sweden to the mouth of the Fraser river in just twenty two days including a twelve hour delay at the Panama Canal. Alaskan cruises from Vancouver began in the summer of 1932 when the three funnelled Prince Robert of Canadian National Line made four 11 day cruises to Prince Rupert, Ketchikan, Taku, Glacier Bay and Juneau. She had been built for the ferry service between Vancouver to Victoria and Seattle along with two sisters, Prince Henry and Prince David, but they were only marginally successful. Prince Robert repeated the four summer Alaskan cruises between 1935 and 1939.

Lions Gate Bridge

After one and a half years construction at a cost of $5.873 million, this graceful suspension bridge with three lanes for road traffic was opened as a toll bridge in 1938. The money for the construction was provided by the Guinness family of Dublin, who invested in land on the north shore of Burrard Inlet. It has a clearance for shipping of two hundred feet and contributed hugely to the development of the North and West Vancouver residential and industrial areas. The Guinness family sold the bridge to the British Columbia Government in 1955 for the same price as it took to build, and the tolls were dropped in 1963. A full replacement of the deck of the bridge took place in the years after the Millennium, its official name is now First Narrows Bridge.

Post World War II

The Burrard Inlet had been the scene of frenetic shipbuilding activity with emergency construction work during World War II, with seven berths working on the construction of standard tramps of 10,000 dwt for the war effort employing 30,000 workers on the north shore. The Burrard Yarrows yard built more than one hundred standard ships during the war, and made a major contribution to the war effort. The three floating dry-docks and seven building berths of the Burrard Dry Dock Co. Ltd .also built and repaired vessels up to 525 feet in length. The cranage in the yard was extensive and included cranes of 85 tonnes capacity. However, shipbuilding ceased after the end of the war, and general repairs and major collision damage steel renewal was then carried out in the three floating dry-docks.

The importance of Vancouver in the grain trade gathered momentum in post World War II years, as the demand for wheat from the Far East increased. By 1960, the port handled 20 million tonnes of cargo annually, and from the standpoint of volume of cargo handled, it was the largest port by far on the West coast of North America. The grain of the prairies of Western Canada flowed through the port at the rate of five million tonnes per year with elevator storage capacity at 22 million bushels. Forestry products, fish, flour, coal, sulphur and potash were also exported, the latter two commodities at bulk terminals with a capacity of 1,600 tonnes per hour. The CPR rail and other Transcontinental and American railroads and truck transport gave good distribution of imports.

Vancouver Port Authority was responsible for the principal berths on the southern shore of the Burrard Inlet of 48.78 square miles with a shore line of 98.2 miles. It owned eight berths at Lapointe Pier, four berths at Centennial Pier, four berths at Ballantyne Pier, and had authority over the five grain elevators owned by the National Harbours Board, two more grain elevators being privately owned by Alberta Pool and Burrard Terminals. There were a dozen grain loading berths with 72 spouts having a total capacity of 320,000 bushels per hour. The grain shipping facilities were the most up to date in the world and provided for the drying and cleaning of grain.

The piers on the south shore of the Burrard Terminal extended four miles from the Lions Gate Bridge (First Narrows Bridge) to the Second Narrows Bridge, which has a central lifting section to allow ships to pass through. They comprised three piers of the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR), a bunkering berth at Coal Harbour not far from the CPR berths owned by British American Oil and supplying oil by pipeline to vessels, Ocean Wharves operated by Evans, Coleman & Evans Ltd., the Canadian National Steamships pier, Great Northern Railway pier, British Columbia Packers pier, United Grain Growers pier, and the Northland Navigation Dock in addition to the main Vancouver Port Authority piers.

Beyond the Second Narrows Bridge, the harbour ran east and north for another ten miles, and included saw mills, oil refineries and storage, a bulk loading terminal, and a crude oil export terminal for tankers up to 53,000 dwt. Lynn Terminals had four berths of 700 feet each with a minimum depth alongside of 35 feet at low water for the loading of lumber products. The oil companies present were Standard Oil Company (Esso), Texaco Canada Ltd., Shell Canada Ltd., Trans Mountain Oil Company at their Westridge Terminal, British American Oil Company, Imperial Oil and Hooker Chemicals. Pacific Coasts Bulk Terminals at Port Moody had berths for ships up to 600 feet in length and handled 1,200 tonnes of bulk commodities per hour, with a depth alongside of 35 feet.

On the north shore of the Burrard Inlet, the berths stretched for two miles, and included saw mills, the grain elevators of Burrard Terminals with a loading capacity of 30,000 bushels per hour, two berths at the Asbestos Wharf. Burrard Dry Docks operated three floating docks for ship repair, and British Columbia Marine Engineers Ltd. operated two smaller floating docks for the repair of coastal craft. Vancouver Wharves Ltd. had the most westerly of the north shore berths, with five bulk loading and discharging berths for bulk concentrates, forestry, pulp, paper and associated products. The total acreage of Vancouver Wharves Ltd. was 163 acres and it had its own railway marshalling yards with five powerful steam locomotives.

Fraser River Port Authority

The City of New Westminster is located twenty miles from the mouth of the Fraser River. New Westminster, now a suburb of Vancouver, has the superb CPR railway station dating from 1899 in French chateau style. The New Westminster waterfront during World War II could accommodate sixteen deep sea vessels loading vital cargoes of lumber, plywood, canned goods, metal products and other goods. In 1960, the Fraser river handled large exports of grain, wheat, lumber, plywood, box wood, lead and zinc bars, chemicals, fertilizers including sulphate of ammonia and ammonium phosphate and nitrate, apples and fruit, salmon, paper and steel. It imported canned pineapples from Hawaii, rice, raisins, gypsum, and lead and zinc ores.

Fraser Surrey Docks opened in 1964 across the river from New Westminster to increase the export of grain, lumber and pulp. Fraser Surrey Docks was renamed from Pacific Grain Elevators number four berth with a loading capacity of 30,000 bushels per hour. Other major berths were the four owned by Pacific Coast Terminals Ltd. of total length 2,160 feet, City of New Westminster Dock, the four berths of the Overseas Transport Co. Ltd., the conveyor belts of the Gypsum, Lime and Alabastine Co. Ltd., and Canadian Western Lumber Co. Ltd., and Canada Rice Mills Ltd.

These Fraser River berths were all long and extensive wharves and docks with a minimum of 30 feet of water alongside. In 1967, the construction of the Roberts Bank export coal and coke terminal began and was completed three years later. In 1975, the Fraser Surrey Docks opened a container handling wharf, and twenty years later the Deltaport Container Terminal for very large container Transpacific ships opened. A $400 million third berth was later added at Deltaport in 2010 to increase terminal capacity by more than a half.

Port Metro Vancouver

In January 2008, a major reorganisation of the ports took place, with the Fraser River Port Authority, North Fraser Port Authority, and the Vancouver Port Authority joining forces to form the current Port Metro at Vancouver in 1977. Vancouver had jurisdiction over a very large metropolitan land and dock area. This was brought about because CP Ships, the major user of the Fraser Surrey Docks, was sold in 2005 to Hapag of Germany, which transferred its business to the three container terminals of the Vancouver Port Authority. By June 2006, Fraser Surrey Docks had lost two thirds of its business and one third of the workforce had been laid off. The Fraser River Port Authority was forced to compete for international container business with the three container terminals owned by Vancouver Port Authority, which had almost reached saturation point. The Fraser Surrey Docks were a vital resource that had recently undergone a $190 million improvement project with new cranes, a 7.5 hectare intermodal yard and an extension to the rail container holding yard. The major reorganisation and merger of Fraser Surrey Docks into Port Metro Vancouver was thought to be the best possible way to bring new business to the under-used Fraser Surrey Docks and eliminate competition between the terminals.

Port Metro Vancouver was established by the Government of Canada and is accountable to the Federal Minister of Transport. The 28 current deep sea and domestic terminals of Port Metro Vancouver are now listed:-

Cruise Terminals

Canada Place Terminal with three cruise berths in Vancouver city centre is close to shopping, dining and other tourist attractions such as the magnificent Stanley Park. It is operated by Cerescorp Company. Canada Place was built to coincide with EXPO 86 when it was used to house the Government of Canada’s pavilion. It juts into the harbour at the bottom of Howe Street, and its five tent like sails are reminiscent of early sailing ships. It is the home of the World Trade Centre, the Vancouver Trade and Convention Centre, the Prow Restaurant, the Pan Pacific Hotel, and a theatre and numerous shops, as well as the cruise terminal.

Ballantyne Cruise Terminal is located east of the city centre adjacent to the Centerm container terminal. It is operated by Cerescorp Company. These two Vancouver cruise terminals are the starting points for most cruises into the Inland Passage of Alaska and the ports of Sitka, Juneau and Glacier Bay. Whale and porpoise watching, and glimpses of bears, otters and waterfalls in the majestic forests are all part of the attractions of these cruises.

Container Terminals

Centerm Terminal on the south shore of Burrard Inlet has extensive rail connections and uses the only quad lift container cranes in the whole of North and South America. The total container throughput of all four container terminals is 2.2 million TEU per annum, and by value one fifth of the port annual goods throughput.

Deltaport Terminal at Roberts Bank in Delta for containerised and project cargo. It is operated by TSI Terminal Systems Inc., and nearby are the big Westshore Terminals for the export of coal and coke.

Fraser Surrey Docks Terminal is a multi purpose terminal on the Fraser river handling containerised and general cargo. It is operated by Fraser Surrey Docks LP Company.

Vanterm Terminal is on the south shore of the Burrard Inlet for containerised, project and bulk cargo, and is operated by Terminal Systems Inc.

Breakbulk Terminals

Fraser Surrey Terminal is one of two breakbulk terminals on the Fraser river that handle 14% of port annual throughput.

Lynnterm Terminal is the consolidation centre for forestry products, steel, woodpulp, paper, lumber, panel products, logs, project cargo and machinery, and other types of breakbulk cargo. It is operated by Western Stevedoring Co. Ltd.

Automobile Terminals

Wallenius Wilhelmsen Logistics Terminal on the Fraser river handles BMW, Honda, Hyundai, Kia, Mercedes Benz, Mitsubishi, Nissan and Subaru cars and vehicles. It is operated by Wallenius Wilhelmsen Logistics (Canada) Ltd.

Fraser Wharves Automobile Terminal on the Fraser river handles Daewoo, Lexus, Mazda, Toyota, General Motors and Suzuki cars and vehicles. It is operated by Fraser Wharves Ltd.

Bulk Terminals

Alliance Grain Terminal on the south shore of Burrard Inlet handles all kinds of grain and is operated by AGT.

Burrard Products Terminal at Burnaby handles Suncor oil products, one of the largest integrated oil and gas companies in Canada, and the terminal is operated by Suncor.

Canexus Chemicals Terminal on thenorth shore of Burrard Inlet imports bulk sea salt and exports caustic soda and sodium chlorate used in the bleaching process of paper products. It is operated by Canexus Chemicals Inc.

Cargill Grain Terminal on the north shore of Burrard Inlet handling wheat, durum, canola, barley and grain by-products and is operated by Cargill.

Cascadia Grain Terminal on the south shore of Burrard Inlet operated by Viterra Inc, which owns and operates Canada’s largest grain handling network for wheat, durum, canola, barley, rye, oats and their by-products.

Fibreco Terminal on the north shore of Burrard Inlet for woodchip and wood pellets, and operated by Fibreco Export Inc.

IOCO Petroleum Terminal in Burrard East Inlet handling heavy fuel oil, intermediate fuel oil, and marine gas oil. It is operated by Imperial Oil Ltd.

Kinder Morgan Vancouver Terminal on the north shore of Burrard Inlet for bulk and breakbulk cargo to and from all regions of Western Canada and the Pacific Northwest. It handles pulp, bulk mineral concentrates, sulphur, fertilizers, speciality agri products and other dry bulk cargoes.

Kinder Morgan Westridge Petroleum Terminal in Burnaby for the import and storage and supply by pipeline of Avgas for Vancouver International Airport, which is located on Sea Island on the north arm of the Fraser river. Crude oil and petroleum products are also handled by Kinder Morgan Canada Terminals Ltd Partnership.

Lantic Inc. Terminal handles raw sugar imports on the south shore of Burrard Inlet, and refines, processes and distributes Rogers Sugar products in Western Canada. It is operated by Lantic Inc.

Neptune Bulk Terminal on the north shore of Burrard Inlet handle coal, potash, grain, speciality crops, animal feed, bulk fertilizers and canola oil. It is operated by Neptune Bulk Terminal (Canada) Ltd.

Pacific Coast Terminals are located in Port Moody for the export of bulk sulphur and other similar bulk liquids e.g. ethylene glycol. It is operated by Pacific Coast Terminals Co. Ltd.

Pacific Elevators Terminal on the south shore of Burrard Inlet for grain, canola, flax, peas, bulk forage and their by-products. It is operated by Viterra Ltd.

Richardson International Terminal on the north shore of Burrard Inlet, and is a major exporter of wheat, barley, rye, flax, grain, feed products, canola, and cereal grains to countries all along the Pacific Rim.

Shellburn Petroleum Terminal at Burnaby for the petroleum products of Shell Canada Ltd.

Stanovan Petroleum Terminal at Burnaby for the petroleum products of Chevron Canada Ltd.

Univar Canada Terminal on the north shore of Burrard Inlet handling chemicals of all types including the distribution of caustic soda solution and ethylene glycol.

West Coast Reduction Terminal for the rendering of oil and fat products, tallow, and animal residues of all types.

Westshore Terminals handle bulk coal and coke exports at Roberts Bank in Delta.

Vancouver Ferries

Ferries run regularly from North Vancouver (Horseshoe Bay) and South Vancouver (Tsawwassen) to Vancouver Island. Tsawwassen Ferry Terminal is located at the end of a two mile long man made causeway from the mainland and is less than 500 yards from the American/Canadian border. The terminal is part of the BC Ferry Network, construction starting in late 1959 to connect the lower mainland of British Columbia with Victoria, the capital of Vancouver Island. Currently there are five berths, with the primary role connecting to the Swartz Bay Ferry Terminal, north of Victoria. Secondly, to connect with the Southern Gulf Islands at Sturdies Bay (Galiano Island), Village Bay (Mayne Island), Otter Bay (Pender Island), Long Harbour (Salt Spring Island) and Satuma Island. A direct passenger connection between Tsawwassen and Nanaimo ran for seven years from 1990 but was transferred to the nearby Duke Point Ferry Terminal and Departure Bay Terminal.

A northern service also operates from Horsehoe Bay (North Vancouver) across the Georgia Strait to the Swartz Bay Terminal. These BC Ferries running from Vancouver to Victoria and Nanaimo have excellent cafeteria, buffet dining, gift shops and spacious lounges. BC Ferries is one of the largest ferry operators in the world, transporting over twenty million passengers per year with a fleet of 36 ferries serving 25 ports and 47 terminals. The Circle routes from Tsawwassen to the Southern Gulf Islands are particularly recommended for tourists in the summer. Ferries such as the Queen of New Westminster and Queen of Nanaimo have white hulls with ‘BC FERRIES’ in blue, and blue funnels sporting two wavy white lines.

A very regular SeaBus ferry service operates across the Burrard Inlet, from near to the Canada Place Cruise Terminal to the north shore.

Vancouver Port Users

Princess Cruises have a wide range of seven and eleven day Alaskan cruises sailing from Vancouver during Spring and Summer 2014/15. Crown Princess, Coral Princess, Island Princess, Grand Princess, Golden Princess, Star Princess and Pacific Princess operate in the Inside Passage as far north as Anchorage. The Hubbard Glacier, Glacier Bay and College Fjord are scenic cruising highlights of the programme. Holland America Line and Celebrity Cruises are the other dominant lines in the trade, with Holland America offering seven and fourteen day Inside Passage and Glacier Discovery cruises on their big fleet of cruise ships e.g. Volendam. Holland America Line and Princess Cruises have extensive rail, coach, hotel and shoreside connections and both have been totally committed to Alaska for many decades.

Celebrity Cruises offer nine and thirteen night cruises during 2014/15 on the same itineraries from Vancouver on Celebrity Century, Celebrity Solstice, and Celebrity Millennium in the Inside Passage to Juneau, Ketchikan, Hubbard Glacier, Icy Strait Point, Sitka, Skagway, and Tracy Arm Fjord, with onward destinations to Seward, Alyeska, Anchorage, Talkeetna, Denali National Park and Fairbanks in Alaska. Many other cruise lines call occasionally at Vancouver on Round the World or Pacific cruises. Cruise passengers in the port are around 900,000 per annum, with around 260 cruise ship visits per annum.

The Transpacific and Round the World container routes calling at Vancouver are increasing in number with more lines calling, including Asia Pacific Marine Container Line of Canada, APL, CSAV and CCNI of Chile, CSCL of China, CMA CGM, COSCO, Evergreen, Hamburg Sud, Hanjin, ‘K’ Line, Maersk Line, MSC, Mitsui, NYK, OOCL, Pacific International Line, Yang Ming and Zim Line. Bulk users include Pacific Basin Shipping, ‘K’ Line, NYK, Mitsui, CMB and Cobelfret bulkers. They will welcome the completion of a new Direct Transfer Coal Facility in the Fraser Surrey Docks that will handle up to four million metric tonnes of coal per year. The project has currently completed its environmental impact review stage of the area.

Stanley Park

This world famous park is one of the best in North America and not far from the Canada Place Cruise Terminal. It has over six thousand acres of primeval West Coast rain forest with twenty miles of nature trails to and around Beaver Lake with its thousands of water lilies, as well as the Lost Lagoon with thousands of waterfowl. The perimeter seawall is over seven miles in length, and there are beautiful beaches, a zoo, aquarium and Haida Indian carved totem poles for the visitor to see. Totem poles were originally used by the Haida people to flank the entrances of their wooden rectangular plank houses facing the sea. There is a bronze statue of a killer whale by a Haida Indian metal worker at the entrance to the aquarium, which is the largest in Canada, and at the Georgia Street entrance to the park there are magnificent floral and rose garden displays. There is also an open air theatre with summer performances for park visitors, as well as a dining pavilion open all year round for tourists.

Vancouver Towage Companies

Towage services are currently provided by the Seaspan Marine Corporation, a merger in 1970 of the Vancouver Tug Boat Company formed in 1898, and the Island Tug and Barge Company founded in Victoria on Vancouver Island in 1925. The latter company has many epic rescue and salvage operations to its name e.g. Maplecove of Canadian Pacific Steamships on 8th December 1952 when she lost her rudder in a storm in mid Pacific and was towed to safety by Island Sovereign. Capt. Charles Henry Cates formed C. H. Cates Towage in 1890 with a single tiny tug, but shortly afterwards doubled the size of his fleet by winning a wager with a rival, who also owned a single tug, in a race to Point Atkinson and back. Cates Towage was the primary harbour tug operation at Vancouver for most of the 20th century, and had a fleet of fourteen small powerful tugs in the 1950s.

The Fred Olsen cargo-liner Bonanza of 9,530 dwt, built in 1953 by Gotaverken of Gothenburg, jammed herself broadside on against the Second Narrows Bridge three years later, and half of the Cates fleet was required to pull her clear before any major damage was done. Cates Towage and its last three motor tugs joined Seaspan in 1999. Seaspan of North Vancouver is better known for the sixty large container ships it operates for charter to the top ten container lines, but also currently has a fleet of thirty tugs with mostly ‘Seaspan’ prefixes to their names. The biggest tug in the fleet is Captain Bob of 975 grt and built in 1982 by the John Manly Shipyard Ltd. in Vancouver as Rivtow Capt. Bob for Rivtow Towage of Vancouver. She is used for long coastal towing of barges loaded with logs along the British Columbia coastline. More tugs are provided at Vancouver by the Pacific Towing Services Ltd. with ‘Pacific’ prefixes to their names.

Postscript

Port Metro Vancouver is a very large undertaking covering a huge area of land and water in the north, centre, east and south of the city of Vancouver. It operates two new fast patrol boats completed locally by Daigle Marine on the Campbell river. Tourist numbers in downtown Vancouver are swelled in the summer cruise season by up to 20,000 cruise passengers daily, embarking and disembarking from the port’s two cruise terminals. On the bulk side of operations, new improved road-rail separations and overpasses

such as the Combo Project along the Roberts Bank rail corridor have eased the congestion from the Delta and Fraser Surrey Docks on the Fraser river. Roberts Bank Container Terminal 2 is a proposed $2 billion project to provide an additional 2.4 million TEU throughput by the year 2030. Other port development proposals are for an oil export terminal for Tesoro Corporation, and a potash export terminal for BHP of Australia. These and other projects will ensure that the largest port in Canada will continue to increase its huge annual trade tonnage in the future. When in Vancouver, do not miss the recommended Port Authority Interpretation Centre in Canada Place Cruise Terminal. This gives a very good presentation of the history and current maritime trade of the port, and admission is free. I wish to thank Port Metro Vancouver for some of the information contained in this article.