The general public doesn’t really think about the importance of Maritime Transportation and the impact it has on the economy. I have been thinking about this for a while and I like to write a bit about it, especially the impact Maritime Transportation has on local communities along the Saint Lawrence River and let me tell you that it is a lot more than most people think.
The Canadian Federal Government and some Provincial Governments have done some studies on this and it would be great to put some of these studies into layman’s terms.

If a full understanding is desired one have to take into account the Saint Lawrence Seaway and the contribution it has had on the whole area since it was fully operational in the late 50’s (1959 I think). Looking at the manpower both in USA and Canada one can start by the beginning like for instance maritime schools and colleges both in USA and Canada. The Canadian and US Coast Guard colleges and the contribution they both have on making the River System Navigable by commercial shipping. The history also makes you think of the steel industry along the River System. Having a great way for receiving raw material and sending finished products to markets all over the world one would think that it would be a flourishing industry.
Port terminals are old and worn down in many places and serves as a sign of bygone glory days for that particular industry. This is a general view as perceived by the public. Some of it is true I guess but there are a lot of new terminals and modernization happening also and this is offsetting some of those older terminals.
Looking at Canadian shipping companies one can see that some have disappeared, others have grown and modernized their fleet and found new niches where there are cargo to transport. Ship construction has seen a lot of decline in Canada and one can safely say that the local cost of material and manpower is the major factor in pushing this industry out of the competitive market. We have seen government intervention in various taxation areas easing off so that local companies can afford to build ships overseas. It is a known fact that CSL(Canada Steamship Lines) and Algoma Shipping have new building programs going overseas. Both companies are renewing their fleet and adding tonnage to their pool of ships. Both companies are also involved with shipping outside of North America.
So in recap; we have briefly touched on the steel industry and Canadian shipping companies. Let us follow up on this subject and dig a bit deeper and get some more specifics.

Technorati Tags: Saint Lawrence Seaway, Maritime Transportation, Economical Impact

Packing a container all depend on what you are shipping in it. We know that the bottom line is to use all available space. Most would probably pack all just solid from floor to roof and leave it at that. Hopefully your shipment is not sensitive to humidity and don’t require any air circulation.

Having a shipment that require air circulation and humidity as low as possible is when you will need some special equipment and a different way of storing the container. International import and export rules makes use of wood palettes almost impossible since all wood has to be of approved type and marked stating that they have gone through the heat process as part of fumigation and are free of any bugs and safe for export use. Plastic palettes have replaced most of the wooden ones. You also have a system developed by IKEA that has become very popular in shipping circles. Easy to use and complete recyclable plastic and of course they are very lightweight. The system was named Optiledge and has become seemingly popular with some. Whatever you are using the main thing is that your shipment is elevated from the floor of the container. Many containers have a baffle system inside so a natural airflow is accomplished. The floor and sealing will still need some separation and free space for air to flow.
Drying up your container and maintaining it dry during transport has been left to a desiccant in most cases. The product is usually available in powder or matting form. I guess you have seen these small bags with a granular product usually found inside the packing box for electronics.
They call it stuffing containers and I guess that means that it is really stuffed in place, one box at the time.

Reformar Inc. is pleased to announce that it has signed a long term exclusive charter agreement for the Research Vessel RV Coriolis II. This exclusive agreement covers the use of the Coriolis II for the private sector contract. The 50 m former Canadian Coast Guard vessel has been operated by Reformar Inc. of Rimouski, Quebec since 2002. While the ship’s primary function is for academic research and training, Seaforth will also utilize the vessel for its worldwide marine survey operations. The ship, which is certified for operations in both domestic and international waters, is currently being mobilized in Quebec City with various geophysical sensors including multibeam, sidescan sonar, subbottom profiler, magnetometer, USBL, multi-channel seismic data acquisition and processing systems, and geotechnical sampling equipment. The vessel will also be configured with a dynamic positioning system, providing excellent station keeping for geotechnical operations and as an ROV support platform. Based in Rimouski during the summer, it is expected that the Coriolis will be based in Halifax during the winter months to support Seaforth’s domestic and international initiatives. “We are very excited about the opportunity presented with this partnership with Reformar”, stated Seaforth President David Lombardi.
To read the whole press release CLICK HERE!

Ship-owners and managers are starting to recognize the importance of implementing this kind of certification. The cost recovery is also very fast. Conforming to the minimum legal requirements is no longer enough especially for tanker operation being such a high visibility type of operation.

More transparency is demanded by the general public and the shipping companies are starting to understand that they have to do more and also show that they are doing so. A way of showing that transparency is by having the “Green Award” flag flying in their mast visible to all. Visibility in the media was one of the reasons for tanker operators to be the first ones to come onboard in this program. The program was opened up for bulk carriers and their operators back in 2001, however the ship has to be 20000 DWT or more. Informing the general public and media at large about a program like this will hopefully have a snowball effect and have a positive impact on clients and future clients’ relation.

The concept or more correct the Certification System is based on ISO/IEC standards and the requirements formed from that are divided in to three parts under the headings of Basic Criteria, Ranking Criteria and Visual Inspection. Each criterion has its own checklist for auditors to go through together with appropriate department or employee.

What does the Green Ship term mean? In International shipping “Green Ship” is mainly associated with the Green Ship Award Program. There is also something that is called Green Ship Initiative established in North America and some others but that is a whole other subject that we might get into another time. So here in these articles we are going to concentrate on “Green Ship Award System”.

In order for us to get an understanding of what it all means I think we should lay a bit of background.
The ships that we are using on the seven oceans have always had a great attention to the safety. The ship owners were always greatly concerned with the safety of the vessel and the cargo that it transported. After all the aim was to make money as a transporter. Onboard the ship, crew was always concerned with the safety and the equipment needed in situations of emergency.
As ship types and technology has changed so has the quality of the ship. The navigational equipment used to navigate safely on the oceans and especially in areas of high traffic has seen a great improvement and made the logistic quality very high. Probably the greatest advancement we have made so far is the GPS and all the technology that became possible due to that technology.
Our Ships, the way they are constructed and the way they operate, are safe. The crew onboard and the management office ashore are all part of making it safe. Today the big word in ship safety is prevention.
Just after the Second World War United Nations founded a body name IMCO overlooking the safety of maritime shipping. This body has since become IMO (International Maritime Organization). Imo have been laying the laws applying to shipping and has bodies in place to enforce those rules. These laws that IMO has set for shipping to follow are basic minimum requirements and to some they are not strict enough. Looking at the ships we could see a large spectrum of ship types and also quality. The age of the ship was also an issue. If we had a quality level of let’s say 1-10, 1 being the top, the gap between 1 and 10 was simply too large. There had to be a second set of higher standards set in place and also incentives to owners for bringing the operation up to those higher standards.
This was the base for the governing body at the Port Of Rotterdam when they took the initiative in 1994 to establish these higher standards. It was all on a voluntary basis and became “Green Ship Award ” standards. It was to be applicable to the whole shipping company both ashore and onboard the vessel. The first ships to get into this higher set of standards were tankers. Since then we have seen the bulkers come along also. Personally, I’m still waiting for the container ships to catch up.
I think that in this first article about the Green Ship Award we have opened up for some interesting subjects and discussions. Where are we heading from here? Come back and visit as we get the next article online soon.

Back again a bit to the beginning of Ships Containers and how it all started. USA was the first country in the world to have containers on ships and if my memory serves me right it was the founder of “Sea-Land” Mr. Malcolm McLean that started it all. With a background from his trucking business he found a way for his trucks to bypass the different state regulations for trucking. Having a North South trucking route from New York to Texas he simply loaded the truck trailers onto a ship and transported them directly to Houston Texas. In the beginning the whole trailer chassis was loaded onboard but it was difficult to stow this way. The next step was to have removable containers from the trucks that was loaded onboard and could be stacked. The size that Mr. McLean used was 35 feet long. Box container had been in use for many years by the US Army and also by the British Railway. These containers bare no standardization at all. They existed in many sizes and were also made in wood before they became metal, as they are today, however the principal use was road and rail. Mr. McLean was really the first one to develop this container to suit maritime transportation. He could see the need for a standard box that would fit on truck, rail and could also be easily loaded onboard a ship. This is how he came to the size of 20’ long by 8’ wide by 8’ high. The popular term TEU was derived from this measure and translates to Twenty-foot Equivalent Units. These first containers that was used was loaded onboard and placed on deck of Tank Ships. These ships had a very small capacity for “containers” but in those days it was considered a revolution having a 58 containers on deck.

Technorati Tags: Maritime Transportation, Containers, Container Ships

Technorati Tags: Maritime Transportation, Marine, Shipping