Good to hear the Chamber of Shipping of BC highlighting the need to improve Port of Vancouver’s supply chain to reduce anchoring in the Southern Gulf Islands. Mr Lewis Manning touches on many of the ideas South Coast Community Groups are pushing for as well. It’s unfortunate the interview didn’t address the very serious environmental impacts that large anchor chains …
Introducing the South Coast Ship Watch Alliance
It’s time to introduce the South Coast Ship Watch Alliance. For several years now, Environmentalists and residents of Cowichan Bay, Ladysmith, Saltair and the Southern Gulf islands have been sounding the alarm about bulk freighters anchoring in local waterways. In community after community, independent volunteer groups have been created in response to an increasing onslaught of commercial cargo ships spilling …
Who gets free parking anymore?
Did you know that giant cargo ships park can park for free among BC’s Southern Gulf Islands? It’s true. You may have to pay an arm and a leg to leave your car while you go visit someone in hospital or take in a movie, but a 250 metre, 100,000 tonne bulk cargo freighter can park alongside just about any …
Does marine shipping get special treatment when it comes to impacts on the environment and local residents?
Imagine if huge gravel trucks were arriving early at some out of town quarry and were allowed to park for free for as long as they wanted, right in front of your house, running their engines non stop and shining super bright lights through the night. Local authorities would put a stop to that pretty quickly. That’s not that far …
Restrictions for kayakers, but not for huge freighters?
In May of 2019, the federal government announced a number of measures to address threats to the critically endangered Southern Resident Killer Whale population. Among them was the creation of Interim Sanctuary Zones in three key foraging areas, off Pender Island, Saturna Island and a third at Swiftsure Bank on the West Coast of Vancouver Island. In addition to fishery …
Helping The Port of Vancouver become the world’s most sustainable port
As the most powerful agency overseeing Canada’s west coast supply chain, The Port of Vancouver is well placed to take a lead on solving the problem of too many cargo ships spilling over into BC’s Southern Gulf Islands. The good news is that The Port of Vancouver has very laudable goals when it comes to the environment and communities. Their …
