Supply Chain Scanner - Week of September 2, 2024
Weekly blog by Emily Atkins
New cranes in Saint John mean more capacity for East Coast shippers
Port Saint John recently announced it will be installing two new container cranes before the end of this year.
According to the operators, DP World, the cranes are a critical step in the port’s ongoing modernization process and will enhance operational capacity, drive economic growth, and increase competitiveness. After being shipped from the Port of Virginia the cranes will join the existing four cranes at Saint John, marking the first time this port has had six operational container cranes.
The incoming cranes are larger than the existing cranes. With an outreach of 65 metres, the cranes can reach up to 24 containers wide and are capable of serving vessels with a capacity greater than 10,000 TEUs. The two existing container cranes have an outreach of 57.9 metres and can reach up to 21 containers wide. The lift height of the cranes is also greater, reaching 40.4 metres, a 5.4-metre increase.
These cranes will boost the port’s capacity from 325,000 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) to 800,000 by the end of 2025. Last year it moved 153,545 TEUs, which was up from the previous year and more than twice the number it moved in 2019.
But Port Saint John isn’t the only thriving gateway in the east. The Port of Halifax moved 546,163 TEUs in 2023, and 4,613,423 metric tonnes in total. It can handle ships carrying more than 16,000 containers. The port of Belledune, NB bills itself as a ‘green energy hub’ with exports of wood pellets and chips for biomass energy projects and opportunities for other green energy projects. Belledune moved 2,262,021 metric tonnes of cargo in 2023. In Newfoundland and Labrador, the Port of St. John’s handled 1,408,443 metric tonnes in 2022.
According to Statscan data, the marine transport sector in Canada contributed $7.5 billion to the GDP and employed about 70,000 just prior to the pandemic. The influence and significance of marine sectors on the economy of coastal provinces and territories is much larger, particularly in Atlantic Canada where marine sectors accounted for substantial shares of total provincial employment in Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island.
All of the East Coast ports have been pumping investments into their infrastructure in order to accommodate bigger vessels and cargo and move it all faster. With their proximity to markets in the United States – Saint John, for example, is just an hour from the US border – and shorter sailing distance from Europe than the inland gateways like Montreal, Canada’s east coast ports have commercial advantages.
And in the coming months, with a potential US east coast port strike looming at the beginning of October, Canada’s eastern gateways may benefit from increased traffic if shipping lines reroute vessel calls there. While they wouldn’t be able to handle all the cargo that normally travels through New York and New Jersey, for example, they could see a significant bump that could bring Saint John, as an example, much closer to its maximum container capacity.
“The addition of these two cranes will significantly boost our terminal’s capacity and efficiency, allowing us to handle larger vessels and ultimately more cargo – which directly benefits the local economy,” said Doug Smith, CEO of DP World in Canada. “We look forward to welcoming these additional cranes as they will make a real difference in our ability to serve our customers and further enhance Saint John's position as an essential East Coast container destination.”
I imagine the management at the port wishes they could get those two new cranes installed next week rather than at the end of the year, as planned, to position the port in case that US strike actually comes to pass.
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Emily Atkins
President
Emily Atkins Group
Emily Atkins is president of Emily Atkins Group and was editor of Inside Logistics from 2002 to 2024. She has lived and worked around the world as a journalist and writer for hire, with experience in several sectors besides supply chain, including automotive, insurance and waste management. Based in Southern Ontario, when she’s not researching or writing a story she can be found on her bike, in a kayak, singing in the band or at the wheel of her race car. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emilyatkinsgroup/