Canadian Shipowners Association News

ICS Secretary General Peter Hinchliffe reaches out to the Canadian Transport Minister in a letter this week. I am writing on behalf of the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) which is the principal global trade association for shipowners representing over 80% of the world merchant fleet. ICS membership comprises national shipowners’ associations from 37 nations, and includes the Canadian Shipowners’ Association and the Chamber of Shipping of British Columbia. ICS represents all sectors and trades of the shipping industry…

The board of directors of the Chamber of Marine Commerce has appointed Raymond Johnston as interim President, effective October 1, 2016. Johnston will oversee the implementation of the merger between the Chamber of Marine Commerce and the Canadian Shipowners Association (CSA) announced last week and will lead the association until the recruitment process for a new president is completed. Under the terms of the merger agreement, the Chamber of Marine Commerce and the CSA will be…

The Chamber of Marine Commerce will assume the assets, liabilities and staff of the Canadian Shipowners Association (CSA) following a new merger agreement that aims to create a united voice for commercial shipping in Canada and the United States. “We’re uniting two organizations that have successfully promoted the interests of commercial marine shipping for many decades,” said Wayne Smith, Chairman of the Chamber of Marine Commerce. “One of our common objectives is to foster a harmonized and efficient regulatory climate throughout the bi-national Great Lakes and St.

The Federal Election is an important opportunity to boldly support the marine industry as a means to sustainable Canadian growth. During this election and post-election period, political leaders are urged to build upon Canadian domestic shipping for the Canadian economy and sustainable economic growth. "The Canadian marine industry connects Canada's economic capacity with the rest of the world," says Robert Lewis-Manning, President of the Canadian Shipowners Association (CSA).

U.S. and Canadian vessel operators on the Great Lakes are urging the public to not participate in the Port Huron Float Down scheduled for August 16, the Lake Carriers’ Association (LCA) and Canadian Shipowners Association (CSA) said in a joint press release. The annual event, which fills the seven-mile stretch of the St. Clair River from Port Huron to Marysville with thousands of people in all manner of craft, is unsanctioned and unsafe, needlessly jeopardizing participants and hindering commercial navigation at the height of the shipping season, according to the associations.

A review of the ferry industry’s latest challenges and opportunities attracted a record 340 delegates to Vancouver last week for the 39th annual Interferry conference. The global trade association event exposed a string of concerns – notably over punitive safety and environmental regulations – but also highlighted the financial potential of new routes, onboard shopping incentives and the use of LNG fuel. Alongside sessions on the future of the industry, Canada-based CEO Len Roueche outlined a vision for maintaining Interferry’s influential lobbying role among politicians and regulators.

The Canadian Shipowners Association (CSA) says it is extremely pleased that the Government of Canada is responding to the need for additional icebreaking support on the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Waterway, as with another icebreaker, key cargo such as wheat, will move to market quicker. "This is an important move by the Canadian Government to support the Canadian short sea shipping industry on the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Waterway," said Robert Lewis-Manning, President of the Canadian Shipowners Association.

With the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway facing the thickest and broadest ice cover in years, the Canadian Shipowners Association (CSA) is extremely concerned that Canada's ice-breakers will not be able to create and maintain the routes needed to move key cargo to Canadian and American industries. The Canadian Coast Guard is doing its utmost to work with resources across a large geographical area subject to heavy ice, but this situation is rippling into Canada's transportation and economic system.

The St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation (SLSMC) announced that Gerald Carter has been appointed to its Board for a three-year term. He replaces Ralph Mercier as the representative for the Québec Provincial Government. Gerald Carter comes to the Seaway with a long history in marine transportation . He is a past President of Canada Steamship Lines Inc. (CSL), a major player in the Great Lakes / St. Lawrence Seaway system. Mr. Carter joined CSL in the early 1990s as Director of Information Systems. This appointment was followed by a series of progressively more responsible roles, leading to his nomination as President, a position he held from 2002 to 2012.

Canadian Ship Owners Seek Fairness, Predictability and Harmonization of U.S. Ballast Water Discharges Regimes. The Canadian Shipowners Association (CSA) has formally sought a legal review in the United States of the implementation dates found in the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Vessel General Permit (VGP). The VGP imposes requirements that are currently impossible, making this review critical to ensuring fairness and predictability for CSA's members' operations in the U.S. waters of the Great Lakes; a vital link in the continental supply chain.

On December 19, 2013 the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will implement its new Vessel General Permit (VGP), which the Canadian Shipowners Association (CSA) said will demand a technical solution that is currently unavailable to the marine industry. However, there is little flexibility in the VGP to accommodate this delay, leaving shipowners with an impossible requirement, the CSA said. This untenable situation could lead to significant impacts for Canadian shipowners if left unresolved. Given the dependence of American and Canadian industry on the marine transportation sector, finding a short-term solution to facilitate commerce is imperative. The CSA has been working on multiple fronts to find relief from this situation of inflexibility.

A report released by the Canadian Shipowners Association (CSA) has found that American regulations to require the installation of ballast water treatment equipment on Canadian domestic vessels beginning in 2014 will cost the Canadian economy  1.1 billion dollars over the next five years. Further complicating this situation is the reality that ship owners cannot comply with the regulations at this time, as the appropriate technology does not exist. The United States Coast Guard…

The members of the Canadian Shipowners Association (CSA) have partnered with Great Ships Initiative (GSI), a project of the Northeast-Midwest Institute, a regional nonprofit research center headquartered in Washington, DC. Efficacy tests of ballast water filtration systems in the unique, cold, fresh waters of the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Waterway (GLSLW) will take place this summer at the GSI ballast treatment testing facility in Superior, Wisconsin. To date no technology has been type-approved for operation in the GLSLW waters, where Canadian vessels operate. Canadian shipowners are looking proactively to find practical solutions to ballast water management.

Friday’s decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit to reject three maritime industry associations’ challenge to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Vessel General Permit (VGP) highlights the urgent need for Congressional action to establish a uniform and practical regulatory regime for vessel discharges, The American Waterways Operators (AWO) announced today. The VGP was developed by EPA in 2008 under the Clean Water Act National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permitting program, designed to regulate discharges from land-based stationary sources. The permit contains baseline requirements established by EPA as well as more than 100 state- and waterbody-specific conditions required by individual states.

Bruce Bowie, President of the Canadian Shipowners Association (CSA), announced the appointment of Robert Lewis-Manning as Vice-President, Operations effective November 30. Lewis-Manning holds a master’s degree in Business Administration from Royal Roads, a Bachelor of Arts from Dalhousie, as well as a Command Certification (Masters) from the Naval Operations School in Halifax. He comes to the CSA after a 24-year career in the Canadian Navy where he held positions as Team Leader for the Canadian Forces Transformation Team…

At the 73rd Annual Joint Conference of the Lake Carriers’ Association & Canadian Shipowners’ Association in Cleveland on 12 August, 2009, Robert D. As I have already mentioned to several of you, it is a truly great pleasure for me to be here and to catch up on the news from the Great Lakes community. As Jim mentioned briefly in his introduction, I did my time on the Lakes - and it was one of the most enjoyable assignments I ever had with ABS. It was from 1973-77. I was stationed initially in Chicago, Milwaukee and finally Sturgeon Bay which meant I spent a lot of time at Bay Shipbuilding – as it was then called and will probably always be known to most of us. Enjoyable - because of the special kinship of the Lakes fraternity – the builders, the owners, and the crews that I worked with.

The Chamber of Marine Commerce, along with a number of other industry stakeholders, are joining forces to take legal action against the state of New York's proposed new ballast water regulations. The other parties joining in the lawsuit include American Great Lakes Ports Association, Canadian Shipowners Association, Federal Marine Terminals, Canfornav, Polska Zegluga Morska, Port of Oswego and Port of Albany Commission. During the past few months, four Great Lakes states (New York, Wisconsin, Illinois, and Ohio) have issued new ballast water regulations, joining Michigan and Minnesota, both of whom already had ballast water regulations.

The events of September 11, 2001 will continue to have lingering effects on the world indefinitely. The most visible remnant in the maritime world is the drastically heightened sense of safety and security, as officials in countries around the globe seek to secure their borders from the threat of attack — either direct or covert — via ship. Many of the issues currently on the legislative fast track were already in the works pre-September 11. False crew documentation, enhanced vessel tracking and beefed-up harbor controls were much-discussed topic in previous years. As is the case more often than not, though, a disaster of some proportion is inevitably the impetus in moving from discussion to action.

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation (SLSDC) and the Canadian St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation (SLSMC) opened the binational waterway’s 45th navigation season. This season marks the beginning of mandatory Automatic Identification System (AIS) use on commercial vessels entering waterway in North America to employ this technology as a requirement for transit. “AIS represents a significant improvement in marine transportation navigation, integrating vital navigation data long available through our Vessel Traffic Control Centers (VTCCs) with electronic chart display technology at the fingertips of officers on the bridge,” said SLSDC Administrator Albert Jacquez.

The Chamber of Marine Commerce (CMC) sent a letter to the Government of Canada, co-signed by fourteen leading industry associations, supporting government changes to Canada’s system of marine pilotage. • Hon. • Nicole Trépanier, Executive Director, St.