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.

Technorati Tags: Green Award for Shipping

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.

In this series of articles to be posted we will do just that, examine the subject and also look at what it means to have your ship certified as a “Green Ship”.

The project will be a ongoing thing and we will post our findings and comments here on this blog.

Technorati Tags: Saint Lawrence Seaway

The water freezes up and sticks to the cement walls in the locks and also to the lock doors. This build up of ice can be very destructive if it is allowed to get hold. It will decrease the volume of the lock it self and Seaway Max ships will not be able to pass unless it is removed. The doors them self can not be closed properly and also to get them open will be difficult as the groove or hole in the cement where they would fold in would be covered with ice and it is simply not possible to pass the ships inn and out of the locks with the doors protruding as they would in this case. Some elaboration on the above would be to explain that a Seaway Max ship might have 10” clearing on each side between the ship side and the lock wall. If that clear space is filled with ice the ship will not be able to move and would get stuck in the ice. In order for the ship to enter into the lock the water has to be able to flow out of the lock. If the space is not there for this to happen it wouldn’t be possible to enter or exit the lock by the ships. The time from the fist ice build up until the closing of the seaway is kept ice free in front of the doors by the use of large compressors that are forcing air into the water and therefor creating a bubbling action that pushes the warm water to the surface and also a current that keeps the ice away from the lock doors. In the latter part of December the ice pressure on the upside of the locks are simply to great for this system to work. The natural flow of the Saint Lawrence River is simply forcing the ice against the upside of the lock and mechanically removing the ice is simply not feasible.

Technorati Tags: maritimecommunity.com