So many ships waiting in Vancouver anchorages

This morning's count of ships in the Port of Vancouver, including Roberts Bank and Fraser/Surrey, both at dock and in anchorages, plus those waiting in anchorages in the Gulf Islands: 74 bulk cargo, 1 car carrier, 4 tankers.
The majority are empty, waiting in anchorages: 18 in English bay, 30 in the Gulf islands, 3 in Vancouver harbour.

Over the years, the number has grown, but this year it has shot upwards. Maybe due to Covid slowing the loading process? As most of the loading of bulk carriers is not labour intensive, it may have nothing to do with Covid, at least at this end. At the sources of the bulk commodities perhaps? These ships carry coal, sulphur, wheat, potash, oil, logs and likely other products.

Until about 5 years ago, it was a rare sight to see a Vancouver bound bulk carrier anchored in the Gulf Islands. Now, the available anchorages are mostly full. In fact there are a pair anchored off of Departure Bay, north of Nanaimo this morning, the first I have noticed there, though others may have seen them there in the past.

Although there are all kinds of negative repercussions from a shipping or port strikes, the harbour looks great when there is a high ship count in the harbour at Xmas.

The weirdest location for a ship I just recently saw roughly a week and a half ago in Desolation sound was a ship moored, abandoned, drifted along the channel between West and East Redonda Islands (to lazy to go look up the name). This ship was some kind of freighter looked around 15 - 20 tons.

Now if we could just get those ships to put on some xmas lights.

A freighter at 15-20 tons?

koliver said:

...Over the years, the number has grown, but this year it has shot upwards. Maybe due to Covid slowing the loading process? As most of the loading of bulk carriers is not labour intensive, it may have nothing to do with Covid, at least at this end. At the sources of the bulk commodities perhaps? These ships carry coal, sulphur, wheat, potash, oil, logs and likely other products....

Click to expand...

More likely the economy crashing due to Covid.

Unless I read G-Captain wrong, container shipping had a banner beginning last year, a summer slump but picked up with early demands for the winter holidays.


A lot of bulk continued because people still needed basics whether they paid for them or not (economy).

A freighter at 15-20 tons?

There are small coastal freighters that really aren't that large, nothing like the ocean crossing big jobbies. Here is a Wiki link to West Redonda Island, almost no population, in fact none is listed. There will be a very small number living in Refuge Cove, but down the Waddington Channel, the area between West Redonda and East Redonda there is almost nothing there. And yet there in middle of no where was this smaller coastal freighter.

West Redonda Island
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Redonda_Island

East Redonda Island

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Redonda_Island

rsn48 said:

A freighter at 15-20 tons?

There are small coastal freighters that really aren't that large, nothing like the ocean crossing big jobbies. Here is a Wiki link to West Redonda Island, almost no population, in fact none is listed. There will be a very small number living in Refuge Cove, but down the Waddington Channel, the area between West Redonda and East Redonda there is almost nothing there. And yet there in middle of no where was this smaller coastal freighter.

West Redonda Island
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Redonda_Island

East Redonda Island

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Redonda_Island

Click to expand...

None of the many I am seeing on AIS are that small. Most are 600 to 750', 40000 to 75000 tons capacity. The big container ships don't generally have to wait, so rarely occupy any of the Vancouver Harbour, English Bay or Gulf Island anchorages. Those ships are 1000' or more. Some container ships that frequently come into Van Harbour are among the giants, owned by Maersk or other big container lines.
Those that are in anchorages, waiting, tend to be all from different owners and ports of registry.

Read somewhere that there is a shortage of rail cars on the west coast to move freight. The situation was likely to continue through November. This has likely impacted Vancouver shipping. The bulk freight business runs on a tight schedule so if there is a hiccup it causes a ripple effect down the line.

Here is the article

https://www.logisticsmgmt.com/artic...s_are_impacted_by_labor_disruptions_in_canada

There's a backlog of ships because there's more cargoes arriving than shipping out. So if they're not waiting to unload, they're waiting for a cargo. If they have to wait too long, some will go coastwise in ballast to where they can get loaded sooner.
It costs about $10,000us/day for the ship to sit.

Lollygag1 said:

Here is the article

https://www.logisticsmgmt.com/artic...s_are_impacted_by_labor_disruptions_in_canada

Click to expand...

That seems to be all about container ships. There are few to none of those big guys in the anchorages.

After 911 off the port of LA/LB it looked like a parking lot due to the wait on CG inspections.

These are almost all bulk carriers, waiting to load coal or grain. Not Christmas presents for North America . . .

Ocean Lady has been there for years - she's part of the fish farm and has quite the storied past. But she's not moved in a very long time, guaranteed she's getting thinner and concerns are growing that she soon may be an environmental disaster...

Ship details

rsn48 said:

A freighter at 15-20 tons?

There are small coastal freighters that really aren't that large, nothing like the ocean crossing big jobbies. Here is a Wiki link to West Redonda Island, almost no population, in fact none is listed. There will be a very small number living in Refuge Cove, but down the Waddington Channel, the area between West Redonda and East Redonda there is almost nothing there. And yet there in middle of no where was this smaller coastal freighter.

West Redonda Island
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Redonda_Island

East Redonda Island

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Redonda_Island

Click to expand...

Several years ago I was surprised to find several bulk freighters anchored in the Saanich Inlet and Cowichen Bay. Please excuse any spelling errors.
When my dad lived in West Vancouver I would visit and spend all day just watching the ships and not getting a darn thing done.

GoldenDawn said:

These are almost all bulk carriers, waiting to load coal or grain. Not Christmas presents for North America . . .

Click to expand...

Christmas stuff shows up early. Right now is the typical late fall slow down. Happens almost every year to some degree. COVID hit in March and shipping dropped off like the stock market. Lasted about 3 months or so and has crept back up. Delta Port has had lots of work from Aug on. Car ships picked up over the summer too. They built a new grain loading facility in Van but I heard a silo collapsed and that has delayed the new one on the river. We just put in a new ship loader at FS. Here is a video link and some others.
https://vimeo.com/472239147?ref=em-v-share
Rain will also delay a lot of bulk operations and we are in the rainy season.

Here are a few shots of that new Agri ship loader. I'm not sure why a reduced size photo changes orientation but uploading it raw and allowing the site to reduce the size made it upside down. I'll figure it out over time.

to golden dawn, are those trolling poles, or stabilizers...my dad had a 40ft "troller, crabber, gillneter, i was his crew!...we lived in Wrangell, alaska way back...that`s where i learned to steer! my dad took a lot of naps when we traveled!...clyde

Virtual town hall on Dec 3 about this matter https://www.vicnews.com/news/mp-to-...tual-town-hall-on-freighter-anchorages-issue/

From Yellow Point last week I counted 6 freighters anchored with in eye-sight.

Read today another issue causing backlog is a lack of truck drivers and vehicles to move stuff from the off load area. This is causing headaches for the retail as there are containers full of toys and other consumer goods that cant get offloaded.

A few years ago I had a business trip purposely stayed at port of Long Beach to watch the ships offload and the logistics involved.

Lollygag1 said:

Read today another issue causing backlog is a lack of truck drivers and vehicles to move stuff from the off load area. This is causing headaches for the retail as there are containers full of toys and other consumer goods that cant get offloaded.

A few years ago I had a business trip purposely stayed at port of Long Beach to watch the ships offload and the logistics involved.

Click to expand...

None of the ships now anchoring in the Gulf Islands are "Container Ships". See the post immediately prior to yours for a picture of one of the bulk carriers now filling these waters.

What does that do for air quality, when so many ships are sitting there burning bunker fuel to keep systems running? I've been in Vancouver when, on a bad day, snow on the mountains was brown when seen through the smog.

MurrayM said:

What does that do for air quality, when so many ships are sitting there burning bunker fuel to keep systems running? I've been in Vancouver when, on a bad day, snow on the mountains was brown when seen through the smog.

Click to expand...

They do not burn bunker in Canadian waters, they switch to low sulfur locomotive diesel for main engine and regular #2 low sulfur diesel for gen-set and auxiliaries. Most ships comply / required with tier 2 diesel emissions when in coastal waters.
Believe many meet tier 3 and run catalytic converter, carbon filter and SCR for N0x reduction in coastal waters.
Believe bunker will be banned by IMO MARPOL in 2021. Bunker is not compatible with Tier 4 emissions proposed by IMO.

roddy said:

They do not burn bunker in Canadian waters, they switch to low sulfur locomotive diesel for main engine and regular #2 low sulfur diesel for gen-set and auxiliaries. Most ships comply / required with tier 2 diesel emissions when in coastal waters.
Believe many meet tier 3 and run catalytic converter, carbon filter and SCR for N0x reduction in coastal waters.
Believe bunker will be banned by IMO MARPOL in 2021. Bunker is not compatible with Tier 4 emissions proposed by IMO.

Click to expand...

Good to know. Thanks

The reality if Canada wants to play in the world trade market the ships are a necessity. When the Covid is over things will eventually return back to normal and timely shipping and schedules will happen.

HOLLYWOOD

MurrayM said:

What does that do for air quality, when so many ships are sitting there burning bunker fuel to keep systems running? I've been in Vancouver when, on a bad day, snow on the mountains was brown when seen through the smog.

Click to expand...

I stare at those mountains all day long from false creek, if you see brown then its just dirt on top the snow.

When I first moved to Vancouver in 74, there was no visible smog in the air. When I moved over to the Island in 2016 on many summer days you could see an LA type brown cloud over by UBC and into Richmond, Delta, etc.

I was fortunate living in Deep Cove as the billion trees in that area absorbed so much of the crap in the air. Now in Qualicum, not a concern at all except for forest fire smoke coming from coastal BC, Washington and California. This past summer, most of our smoke in the air was California smoke.

For those who do not know, Vancouver is the third largest port city by volume in North America.

And trivia on Victoria I have found interesting:

Victoria boasts one of the busiest water airports in the world—some think it’s too busy.



IT’S QUITE UNUSUAL—and ambitious—to have an airport smack in the middle of any city, on water or land. According to Transport Canada, which runs the harbour aerodrome, “Victoria Harbour is Canada’s only certified water airport and port that is home to cruise ships, floatplanes, passenger ferries, recreational boaters and kayakers.” And don’t forget the big yachts in the new marina. Did you know Victoria is now the busiest port of call for cruise ships in Canada? Or that the airport has earned the title of Canada’s, and sometimes the world’s, busiest water airport, averaging 100 flight movements (take-offs or landings) a day?

As Transport Canada’s graphic depiction of the harbour’s transportation avenues shows (below), all of the traffic in the harbour is occurring in a small space, one surrounded by dense development of the waterfront, including hotels and thousands of condos. Note the pinch-point between Songhees Point and Laurel Point, a narrow channel that all vessels, including aircraft, must squeeze through to get into or out of the Inner Harbour. And notice that airport runways are superimposed on the lane for boats over 20 metres in length.

micheln said:

I stare at those mountains all day long from false creek, if you see brown then its just dirt on top the snow.

Click to expand...

Well...as a fine art photographer who was going to art school at the time, and as somebody who spends an inordinate amount of time observing how light changes throughout the day and seasons, I'm positive it was smog.

One day clear skies and crisp green forested white capped mountains, then the next day blue mountains without crisp outlines of trees and brown snow seen diagonally through smog.

Vancouver produces smog. Less now than before due to pollution regs but it is still present.
We used to live in Burnaby, right next door to Vancouver proper, in fact three city blocks from the dividing line. I often walked to Boundary Rd. to look over the city. It, smog, was often heavy enough that the Lions Gate bridge, ~ 6-7 miles away, was only just visible.
I lived in that house from 1952 to 2007 so have some experience with the area. When I first started driving it was almost not possible to drive in the fall at night even on lit streets due to the heavy fog, mostly due to emission from all sources. I often walked at those times. One of the few signs of some common sense on my part in those days.

As houses all eventually went to gas and electric, the cars cleaned up, the Beehive burners were no longer used and much of the heavier industry either moved or installed equipment to clean their emissions the air cleaned up a LOT., not totally though.

Our boat was moored for 25 yrs in Burrard Inlet so we spent a lot of time running in and out of English Bay. 1979 - 2007

When we returned home from our trips West to Desolation Snd. or the Broughtons we knew when we were approaching Vancouver. We could see the brown cloud pouring out of English Bay as we traveled East on the Sunshine Coast, going home to the marina in Burrard Inlet.,. Then we could smell it as we got even closer. It took even longer to actually see the city itself.
There were many days on my way home from work atop the bridges that the North Shore Mountains could not even be seen even though there was not a REAL cloud in the sky and the sun was out. approx '95 to 2007.

Even where we are now we do not escape it completely.

During the winter the outflow winds coming down the Fraser River valley , Howe Sound, Indian arm often blow and disperse it but not entirely.

So I don't doubt what Murray commented about.

I went to art school in the early 1980's, so it lines up with C lectric's timeline. Glad to hear it's gotten better despite the surge in population since then.