Here's a short selection from the hundreds of shipping articles I've written while covering the west coast of North America, including California, Oregon, Washington State, B.C.(Canada) and Alaska: * Kyle Washington: The Prince of Tides (BC Business) * Escape from the 91st Floor (9/11) * Armada Rescues Trapped New Yorkers (9/11) * The Ship That… Continue reading Maritime clips
Everybody loves a good storyteller and I’m no exception. Last week, I listened to some of the live streaming of the Enbridge hearings from Kitimaat, the First Nations village a few clicks outside the company town of Kitimat in northwest B.C. It was the tail end of the first day and the Haisla’s Chief Councillor,… Continue reading The monster of Kitimaat and other tales at Enbridge hearing
May 30, 2011 While surfing the internet, I ran across this photo of a ship I sailed on a few years ago. It brought back fond memories of sailing across the Pacific on the CSCL Felixstowe. I got asked a ton of questions about the trip, when I returned. Here, in no particular order, are… Continue reading Top 10 questions about life on a containership
Just heard that the main dockworkers' union in Vancouver and other B.C. ports have reached a watershed eight-year deal. The contract between the International Longshore Warehouse Union Canada and maritime employers ran out more than a year ago. But that still leaves seven years on the new contract, an impressive length, when you consider that… Continue reading Eight-year contract approved on Vancouver docks
By Alison Bate In September 2009, two German heavylift ships dropped anchor at Novyy Port after a historic trip, transiting the legendary Northeast Passage over the top of Russia. After discharging 44 cargo modules in the Siberian outpost, the MV “Beluga Fraternity” and “Beluga Foresight” sailed on toward Rotterdam with the remaining 3,500 tons of… Continue reading Fight over Arctic shipping routes
By Alison Bate First published in Maritime Magazine, Fall 2009 Vancouver longshore worker Karen Crossan stood in the ghostly dispatch hall looking vainly for work on tonight's graveyard shift. "I'm bored and I am broke," she said, after learning there was no work that night, yet again. "There were 150 jobs for the afternoon shift,… Continue reading B.C. longshore casuals take a beating
By Alison Bate When a ship gets into trouble off the remote west coast of Vancouver Island, there are very few rescue services around. The province relies on a commercial tug in the area being able to help out. Currently, major seagoing tugs carry electronic tracking devices so they can be located in real-time on… Continue reading What if a containership ran aground on Nootka Island?
By Alison Bate I must admit I was a little surprised not to get a straight answer from Transport Canada at first about the number of tug escorts traveling with condensate tankers into Kitimat. I assumed it was clearly set down in the legislation whether tankers carrying this kind of hydrocarbon mixture required tug escorts… Continue reading Tug escort rules vary in B.C.
By Alison Bate What would happen if a tanker on its way to Kitimat collided with a tug in the scenic Inside Passage? According to the author of a new report, major flaws would be exposed in the way marine accidents are handled here in British Columbia. "Nobody is essentially watching the store - at… Continue reading What if a tanker heading for Kitimat hit another vessel?
By Alison Bate It looks like a primitive computer game, but this real-time ship tracking system on the BoatingSF.com website shows the containership Cosco Busan hitting the Bay Bridge in San Francisco Bay last November. The ship, leaving its berth in Oakland in heavy fog with the required pilot on board, is shown as a… Continue reading The legacy of the Cosco Busan
