These anchorages are located in sensitive marine ecosystems. Their large anchor chains scour the seabed disrupting fish habitat and countless species of plant and animal life. This impacts the entire marine food chain, right up to the endangered Southern Resident Killer Whales. Ships up to 300 metres long anchor in quiet, rural, residential neighbourhoods. Their large diesel generators run 24/7, polluting the local air shed and causing noise pollution day and night. They also require super bright lighting systems which affects both humans and animal life at night. Worst of all is the possibility of a ship grounding in the narrow waterways and inlets or colliding with another vessel. Either could result in a catastrophic fuel spill.

Commercial marine shipping accounts for 1.8% of the Canadian economy, or nearly $30 billion. However, ships anchoring for free outside of the Port of Vancouver doesn’t mean more goods are being traded. It means problems in the supply chain. Ships make money for Canada when they’re moving goods not when they’re sitting idle for weeks outside of the port.

The 33 anchorage sites throughout the Southern Gulf Islands, Cowichan Bay, and Ladysmith, were designated in the 1970s with little, if any, environmental impact assessments or consultation with First Nations or other coastal residents. Since then no one has studied their impacts on the environment. The federal government has finally starting to look at the situation but so far have not committed to any environmental reviews or plans to curtail the activity.

Container ships that transport consumer goods only spend about 2 days inside the Port of Vancouver. But a significant number of bulk cargo ships (grain and coal) regularly stay at anchor for anywhere from 10 days to 2 or more months.

There’s lots that can and should be done, including:

• reviewing contracts that include early arrival of ships and excessive stays
• improving rail and other supply chain infrastructure
• expanded use of mooring buoys inside Port of Vancouver
• improved alignment of existing Port of Vancouver anchorages
• more efficient and transparent use of data for “just in time” scheduling and tracking practices
• fees for anchoring outside of the port and fines for staying too long
• studying other ports in the world to look for solutions

Sure, but how many are reasonable? Port of Vancouver currently has 28 anchorages inside its boundaries; 6 more in Port of Nanaimo used almost exclusively for Vancouver bound ships; 10 more near Victoria at Royal Roads and Constance Bank; for a total of 44. Better alignment of anchorages inside the Port and other improvements, such as fixed mooring buoys, would make room for more ships. We believe the Port of Vancouver should manage its operation within its own waterways. It has no authority over the Southern Gulf Islands, yet relies on our delicate waterways to complete its operations.

It’s true ships always have to be somewhere, but globally there’s an oversupply of ships. It’s not Canada’s job to subsidize foreign-owned ships and let them park for free in Canadian waters. Especially when they contribute to pollution and risk of fuel spills. There are other options like better scheduling, remaining in a previous port or slow shipping to avoid early arrival.

The anchorages in English Bay and Burrard Inlet are inside the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority. This area is designated for commercial and industrial use. It’s already been subjected to the adverse effects of heavy shipping activity for years and is accustomed to noise, lights, and other urban activity. It’s also surrounded by an infrastructure designed to manage and safeguard industrial activity. On the other hand, the Southern Gulf Islands (SGI) are a recognized eco-tourism destination, designated for protection under the Provincial Islands Trust Act. Several of the SGI Anchorages are located right inside, or close to, the critical habitat of endangered Southern Resident Killer Whales. The region is also slated to be a National Marine Conservation Area. This is not an appropriate place to anchor massive bulk freighters.

The common law right to navigation does include the incidental right to anchor. But it refers to anchoring temporarily where it is safe to do so. Legal interpretations recognize that it includes qualifiers like “for a reasonable length of time” and “for reasonable purposes”. We question whether consistent, lengthy anchoring, directly linked to commercial activity inside the Port of Vancouver, qualifies under this right. Also, freighter anchoring is already prohibited by Canadian Law in other Canadian locations. Finally, the Federal Minister of Transport, has authority under Section 35.1 of the Canada Shipping Act to “make regulations respecting the protection of the marine environment from the impacts of navigation and shipping activities, including … prohibiting the operation, navigation and anchoring” of vessels including freighters.

The vast majority of ships anchoring in the Southern Gulf Islands are grain or coal ships waiting to load at terminals in the Port of Vancouver. Container ships that carry consumer goods rarely anchor outside the port. They travel directly to berth, load or unload, and leave. Improving the efficiency of grain and coal exports to be more like the container service would help the Canadian economy. There is nothing hypocritical about that.