Port Development reviewed on Bill Good Show Tuesday

When they first laid out the road map for Bill Good's "Good in Your Town" series, the pin in the map for Prince Rupert was pushed in owing to the nature of the growth of the Port of Prince Rupert and the prospect of further development through LNG facilities for the North Coast.

That aspect of the three and a half broadcast from Prince Rupert was examined from the 10 to 10:30 AM portion of the program.

The Port of Prince Rupert was first up on the theme, with a segment from 10 to 10:30 providing a review from the Port's point of view.

The First guest up was Port of Prince Rupert President and CEO Don Krusel and Harbour Master Gary Paulson, who both reviewed how far the Port of Prince Rupert has come over the last five years and provided a bit of a blue print of the near future, with a look at the larger projects that still may find their way to the North Coast.

Mr. Krusel stressed the geographic advantage that the Port of Prince Rupert offers to the world, especially the growing markets of Asia.

The growing importance of the Port on the local employment scene was discussed as part of the review of the impact that the Northern Gateway has had in the community and across the trade corridor not only in Northern British Columbia, but beyond.

Mr. Krusel also touched on the increasing opportunities that the Port provides across the province, using the current construction of the Pinnacle Pellet Plant as a resource in Prince Rupert that would be providing for opportunity across northern BC.

The topic of port safety and sustainability were discussed with Mr. Paulson, with an estimated 500 commercial calls expected in Prince Rupert this year and more anticipated in the year to come, with a target of 1,350 commercial calls by 2020.  He reviewed the process required among the port's partners such as the Pilot Service and such to provide for safe transit into the harbour.

The prospect of further growth for the port was examined, though when compared with such Ports as Vancouver and Los Angeles we still are on the lower end of the traffic spectrum.

On the theme of competition with other ports on the Pacific, Mr. Krusel suggesting that it's not a so much as a competition, but more a nature of providing a gateway to the world, infrastructure that is required to grow the economy.

The recent groundbreaking for the Road, Rail and Utility corridor was examined as part of the foundation for growth of that infrastructure in Prince Rupert, offering up the footprint for future development.

The prospects for the future were discussed, with Mr. Krusel advising that it's past work has already provided for benefits as their work on the Rail Utility corridor is part of the planning ahead for the proposed LNG development in place thanks to the ground work already in place.

The LNG projects however should not be considered as putting all the eggs in one basket, Mr. Krusel stressed the nature of the diversification of the port's offerings, from containers, to coal and grain, with the proposed LNG projects and perhaps a Potash terminal building on that footprint.

The topic of the transit of those potential LNG ships was discussed with the Port advising that they already were working on the transit plan for any ship arrivals. A plan which would require an escort from a Harbour Patrol vessel and up to three or four tugs to lend assistance, with the Port retaining control of the approach of the ships into Prince Rupert harbour.

They stressed that any LNG shipping would be required to meet the standards of the day recognized world wide, the schedule of ships calling on the community would make for an important impact on the Port.

You can review this portion of the discussion from the CKNW Audio Vault, as well as from the CKNW Podcast page.

For more items on the Port of Prince Rupert and its Development plans check our archive here.