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The Canadian Press News

23 Jan 2018

US' Brand New Warship Will Spend the Winter in Montreal

USS Little Rock (LCS 9) during its December 16 commissioning ceremony in Buffalo, N.Y. (U.S. Navy photo courtesy of Lockheed Martin

The U.S. Navy’s newest Freedom-variant littoral combat ship, the USS Little Rock, will spend the winter stuck in Montreal due to worse than expected weather and ice in the St. Lawrence Seaway. USS Little Rock (LCS 9) was commissioned in Buffalo, N.Y. on December 16, after which the $440 million warship was scheduled to sail for its home port in Mayport, Fla. Instead, the Navy has decided to wait until weather conditions improve before allowing the ship to continue its voyage, according to The Canadian Press.

01 Jun 2016

Canadian Submarine HMCS Chicoutimi Gets Ready

The Canadian navy's British Columbia-based HMCS Chicoutimi will be operational by early next year, says a report by Canadian Press. Vice-Admiral Mark Norman said a problem with some of the welding on HMCS Chicoutimi as well as HMCS Victoria was discovered late last year. He said the welding work was done by a subcontractor that was hired by a contractor working on both Victoria-class submarines as well as some surface ships in Victoria. The welds were passing inspections, but the navy did not realize at the time that the inspection process itself was flawed, said Norman. "In this case, we relied on a series of contracted support systems that didn't deliver what we needed from them.

01 Jun 2016

Scientists Slam BC LNG Proposal

International climate scientists are calling on the Canadian government to reject a proposed liquefied natural gas project by Petronas-backed Pacific NorthWest LNG in British Columbia, saying it would have dire environmental effects, according to a report in Canadian Press. Ninety academics from Canada, the United States, Australia and the United Kingdom released an open letter Monday saying the Pacific NorthWest LNG project would be one of the country’s largest greenhouse gas emitters, and if built, would undermine Canada’s climate change commitments. The $36-billion dollar plant backed by Malyasian state-owned energy giant Petronas is slated to be built south of Prince Rupert, B.C.

11 Mar 2016

Unsolicited Bid by Davie Shipyard

Quebec-based Chantier Davie Canada Inc. presented a bid, potentially worth up to a billion dollars, to the federal government last month offering a Polar Class 3 icebreaker, three smaller River-class icebreakers and two multi-purpose research, border control and search and rescue ships, says a report in the Canadian Press. The proposal by Quebec-based Chantier Davie Canada Inc. has the potential to undercut one pillar of the national shipbuilding strategy, which delegates the construction of civilian ships to Vancouver's Seaspan shipyard. In a presentation to Public Services and Procurement Canada, Davie is partially reviving a pitch made to the former Conservative government in 2013, where it offered to a construct a Polar Class 3 icebreaker and deliver it in 18 months.

02 Feb 2016

Green Groups Urge Arctic Council Urged to Ban HFO

Environmental groups want the eight countries that ring the North Pole to take a stand on banning the use of heavy fuel oil (HFO), considered one of the greatest threats to the Arctic ecosystem, reports  Canadian Press. The use of heavy fuel oil by shipping in the Arctic could have disastrous consequences. Banning this fuel would protect the region’s rich wildlife, improve human health and benefit the climate. Larger cargo carrying ships, tankers and larger cruise ships almost always use HFO, one of the world’s dirtiest and most polluting ship fuels. In the global Arctic, these large vessels comprise only 28 per cent of vessels, but consume 75 per cent of the total annual fuel used in the region.

26 Nov 2015

Tote Cargo ship adrift near Haida Gwaii

The MV North Star, a cargo ship that is owned by TOTE Maritime, spent more than half a day adrift Tuesday off the coast of British Columbia, Canada. The Canadian Coast Guard reported late Tuesday that the cargo ship lost propulsion and was adrift near the coast of Haida Gwaii. Transport Canada says the MV North Star is once again en route to Tacoma, Washington. According to The Canadian Press, the Coast Guard ship should arrive about 4 a.m. local time Wednesday when the North Star will be about 20 nautical miles from shore. Tote Maritime Alaska is a division of Tote Maritime, the same parent company as owners of the El Faro ro-ro ship that sank at a cost of 33 crew members’ lives during Hurricane Joaquin off the Bahamas last month. It had also lost propulsive power before going down.

10 Jun 2015

LNG export terminal by 2018: AltaGas

AltaGas says it is on track to build a liquefied natural gas plant in British Columbia by 2018. The Canadian Press is reporting this morning comments made by AltaGas CEO refuting a recent International Energy Agency report saying LNG will be a slow industry to take off, with no facility built in the country by 2020. “We think we’ll prove them wrong in this decade,” David Cornhill told the Canadian Press in an interview. The proposed project is headed by the Douglas Channel LNG Consortium, a partnership led by AltaGas Ltd, a midstream company known in the Peace as the operator of the Younger Natural Gas Liquids Extraction Plant in Taylor and the Bear Mountain Wind Park in Dawson Creek.

05 Mar 2015

Vancouver Port Fire Leads To Evacuation

A chemical fire at a Vancouver container terminal led to a partial evacuation of Canada’s largest port for several hours Wednesday afternoon, as a cloud of white smoke drifting over the city prompted health warnings and road closures, says Canadian Press. "All south shore of the Burrard inlet port operations have been shut down, including rail and truck access," said Port Metro Vancouver spokesman John Parker-Jervis in a statement. The burning container contains trichloroisocyanuric acid, a hazardous organic compound commonly used as an industrial disinfectant and bleaching agent, he added. The Port evacuated its Centerm terminal, which is operated by DP World Vancouver, and nearby port properties.

26 Feb 2013

Proposed Canadian LNG Export Terminal Gets License

Kitimat BC: Photo credit Wiki CC2 Sam Beebe / Ecotrust

The federal government approves a 25-year export licence for shipping LNG from Kitimat, a West Coast terminal proposed by a Shell consortium . The licence awarded to LNG Canada, a consortium of Shell, Korea Gas Corp., Mitsubishi Corp., and PetroChina International, will allow the export of up to 24 million tonnes of LNG per year, the largest of three export licences awarded to date, according to The Canadian Press. The LNG Canada terminal is one of five proposed for the B.C. coast, and the project has yet to undergo an environmental assessment. Plans to make the B.C.

06 Feb 2013

Cruise Ship Hulk Set Adrift in N. Atlantic

Cruise Ship 'Lyubov Orlova': Photo credit Wikimedia CCL

Cruise ship 'Lyubov Orlova' broke free while on tow from St. John's NL, Canada for scrap in the Dominican Republic. In bad weather on 24, January  the towline parted, and the Canadian authority Transport Canada ordered the tugboat Charlene Hunt to return to port a few days later. Fearing possible collision of the drifting vessel with oil and gas installations off eastern Canada, the Lyubov Orlova was secured by the Atlantic Hawk anchor handler on the 31, January and was towed clear, however, a few days later Transport Canada decided the tow, now in international waters, should be releasd.

11 May 2010

Recovery Effort, Halifax Shipyards Repair Dock

According to a May 10 report from The Canadian Press, Naval architects have been brought in to help recover a large floating repair dock that sank at the Irving-owned Halifax Shipyards on May 8. The dock, which is lying in about 49.2 ft water, was submerging to accommodate a tugboat coming in for repairs when instead of lifting the tug out of the water the dock kept sinking. (Source: The Canadian Press)

02 Aug 2009

Shipbuilding Needs Long-Term Contracts

According to a report from the Canadian Press, Liberal Senator Colin Kenny said that the Canadian conservative government must sign long-term contracts with shipyards and seek political consensus to ensure that projects, which stretch over decades, reach completion. (Source: The Canadian Press)

24 Jun 2009

Irving Shipyard Asks for High Court Ruling

According to a June 23 report from the Canadian Press, Irving Shipbuilding, the company that lost a multibillion-dollar submarine maintenance contract, is asking the Supreme Court of Canada to allow its legal challenge of the deal to proceed. When the maintenance contract was awarded in 2007 to a West Coast firm, Irving sought a judicial review. But the Federal Court of Appeal ruled the shipbuilder did not have standing to ask for such a review based on suspicions there was bias involved. (Source: Canadian Press)

18 Jun 2008

Hibernia South Deal to Follow Hebron Agreement

An agreement to develop the Hibernia South offshore oilfield should be complete this year, Premier Danny Williams said. More than a year ago, the Newfoundland and Labrador government rejected a proposal to develop the project, triggering fears that Williams was alienating the oil industry and scaring away investment. Williams,  said he intends to turn his attention to the Hibernia South project once a deal to develop the Hebron oilfield is finalized, which is expected soon. The application was submitted in 2006 by the Hibernia Management and Development Corporation, which includes ExxonMobil, Chevron, Petro-Canada Norsk Hydro, Murphy Oil and Canada Hibernia Holding. ExxonMobil Canada president Glenn Scott said he was optimistic the Hibernia South negotiations would progress swiftly.

22 Apr 2008

Halifax, Victoria Shipyards Win Refit Contracts

The federal government awarded two contracts Monday worth a total of $900 million to shipyards in Halifax and Victoria to maintain and upgrade 's 12 frigates - considered the workhorses of the navy. The contract for the Halifax Shipyards is worth $549m, while the contract in is valued at $351m. The contracts are the first in a series that are expected to be awarded from $3.1b that is being made available for a mid-life refit of the Halifax-class frigates. The government announced last year that it would spend the $3.1b on weapons upgrades, enhanced command-and-control centres, and alterations needed to accommodate the navy's new helicopters. J.D.

24 Jan 2008

Petro-Canada Reports O&G Discoveries

Petro-Canada is reporting oil and gas discoveries at two exploration wells: one in the U.K. sector of the North Sea and one in deep water off Trinidad and Tobago, according to a report on The Canadian Press. In Trinidad and Tobago, the Cassra-1 well in deep-water Block 22 was completed as a significant natural gas discovery. Petro-Canada operates the well and holds a 90 per cent interest. The second discovery was in the British sector of the North Sea, with the successful completion of the 13/21b-7 well. The well encountered two oil columns that total nearly 80 metres when combined.

10 Sep 2007

Ottawa to Mulls Banning U.S.-bound Tankers from N.B. Waterway

The Canadian Press reported that federal politicians say Canada is considering regulations to ban liquefied natural gas supertankers from a sensitive waterway in the Bay of Fundy, risking renewed territorial tensions with the United States. Maxime Bernier, Canada's new minister of foreign affairs, assured a citizens' group on Sunday that Canada is opposed to the prospect of LNG supertankers navigating the treacherous waters that lead into Passamaquoddy Bay between Maine and New Brunswick. Passamaquoddy Bay lies between Maine and New Brunswick and any supertanker traffic would have to cross through Head Harbour Passage, a narrow waterway that Canada considers internal waters. While the U.S.

30 Jul 2007

Ferry Service Stalls after Bomb Threat

The Canadian Press reported that travelers were stuck for hours when B.C. Ferries was forced to cancel sailings after receiving a bomb threat that police considered credible. Twenty-one sailings were cancelled and travelers were forced to wait in terminals near Vancouver, Victoria and Nanaimo. Passengers were confined to the terminal cafeteria before police gave them the go-ahead to leave. One ferry had already left the terminal and had to be turned back. Another ferry that was ready to depart for Schwartz Bay in Victoria was halted. All the passengers on both ships were evacuated and their vehicles searched. The big ships between Tsawwassen and Schwartz Bay carry up to 470 cars and 2,100 passengers. In the summer, ferries depart between the two terminals every hour.

15 Dec 2005

Canada Port Gets First Radiation Detector

Federal officials have installed Canada's first radiation detector at the port of Saint John in New Brunswick in a bid to protect the country against nuclear terrorism, the Canadian Press reports. While Saint John, N.B., is the first port to get the nuclear detection devices, all major Canadian ports soon will be equipped with the anti-terrorism technology. The radiation detection program is a key part of Ottawa's $172-million plan to beef up marine security - all stemming from the September 11 terrorist attacks. The devices, which have been in use for two weeks in Saint John, detect radiation inside containers. The detector is located on two large concrete columns. The containers are driven through the scanning portal after they have been loaded on trucks.

06 Jun 2006

B.C. Ferries Defends Crew

According to reports, the head of B.C. Ferries is questioning the suggestion that a lack of crew training may have played a role in the sinking of the Queen of the North. The company was interviewed after a letter was sent from the Transportation Safety Board. The safety board's letter outlined its preliminary findings into the March incident. The company said that the ferries crews are extremely well trained and qualified, but the letter says crew members were unfamiliar with the Queen of the North's new steering and navigation system. The ferry hit an island and sank to the bottom of Wright Sound south of Prince Rupert on March 22. Ninety-nine passengers and crew survived, but two are missing and presumed drowned. Source: Canadian Press

21 Jun 2006

Husky Energy Makes New Oil Discovery

The Canadian Press has reported that Husky Energy Inc. has made a sizeable new hydrocarbon discovery in western section of its White Rose oilfield located off the shore of Newfoundland. The energy firm said Tuesday that current data suggests the discovery could contain a potential recoverable resource of several million barrels of oil. This potential recoverable resource is in addition to the gross proved and probable reserves of approximately 240 million barrels recognized in the White Rose oilfield at the end of 2005, the company said. The company said that they expect this discovery will significantly extend the production plateau and field life of the White Rose oilfield. Additional wells are planned over the next few years.

05 Jul 2006

Canadian Coast Guard Gets More Funding

The Canadian Press has reported that the federal Canadian government has approved an additional $45m for the Canadian Coast Guard this year, in an effort tokeep many of its existing vessels ship shape. Reports said that the $45m covers just the annual shortfall in coast guard funding for core operations. In 2005, the coast guard received $26 million in one-year interim funding to help bridge the annual gap. But the Department of Fisheries and Oceans had to cover any remaining deficit, the documents note. The funding infusion will enable the coast guard to carry out a series of refits to vessels, such as deck replacement and upgrading on the Cygnus and a major engine overhaul on the Pearkes.

14 May 2007

Arctic Patrol Ships to be Ordered

A federal cabinet committee has okayed a plan to build six corvette-sized Arctic patrol vessels, according to a report by The Canadian Press and posted on www.canada.com. The committee approved the plan to build the 100-m, 6,000-ton, according to several sources, The Canadia Press reported. It is anticipated that the ships – which will start construction following a two-year period in which the shipbuilding project will be planned – will cost about $300m per ship.