Prime Freight’s summary of a December 2021 report by FreightWaves. Read the original for the full story.
In December 2021 the number of ships waiting for a berth at the Port of Vancouver reached 60, even though rail service had resumed after the November floods in British Columbia.
FreightWaves reported that the queue included 9 container ships, 17 grain carriers and 16 coal vessels, and the port authority said demand for anchorages still exceeded capacity. Flooding and landslides in mid-November had cut CN and CP lines between Kamloops and Vancouver. Both railways had reopened and container volumes leaving by rail had risen nearly 250% in a week, but they were still about 40% below pre-flood levels.
The head of the Canadian International Freight Forwarders Association said winter operations, with slower speeds and shorter trains, were holding back recovery, and that no quick relief was expected. The port was developing a 40-acre empty-container yard with federal funding, while industry voices urged faster progress on long-term capacity, notably the proposed Roberts Bank Terminal 2, which had been in environmental review for years.
What it meant for shippers
Vancouver’s problems in late 2021 showed how one rail disruption can back up an entire gateway. Importers routing through Vancouver needed to plan for longer dwell at the port and on rail, and to consider whether alternative gateways made sense for time-sensitive cargo.