Despite concerns on Pandemic fallout, Port of Prince Rupert gets positive vibe for Fairview expansion plans in national paper

The Expansion of the Fairview Container Terminal was the focus for
a Globe and Mail article over the weekend

While many are looking to the future with a bit of trepidation in the wake of the economic fallout from the COVID-19 health crisis, a weekend article in the national paper the Globe and Mail has offered up some positive themes for the days ahead in the post COVID recovery period.

Globe business and industry writer Brent Jang, who has visited the North Coast a few times in his travels, writes often on themes of port development and his Sunday review provides a glimpse into the planning towards the Fairview Container Terminal expansion work.

In his weekend piece, Jang notes how the expansion of the terminal is viewed by Port CEO Shaun Stevenson as a necessary focus to help meet what is anticipated to be a growth in shipping over the next decade.

He outlines some of the background to the 2.5 billion South Kaien Island Terminal project which is set to start in 2023 should it successfully navigate assessment and regulatory approvals.

Scheduled for a completion in 2028, the expanded reach of Fairview Terminal would add container capacity of 2.5 million TEU's a year

Jang charts out how both the Port and DP World are betting that transpacific supply chains will recover from the current level of disruption owing to the COVID-19 pandemic, with Mr. Stevenson highlighting the diversified nature of the trade that flows through the various terminal facilities in the Prince Rupert area.

Also interviewed as part of the article was Prince Rupert Mayor Lee Brain, with Jang bringing back the theme of the Hays 2.0 vision plan as the city's blue print.

The Mayor noting for the Globe writer how the City's planned launch of a marketing campaign to attract workers to the community has been deferred for the moment owing to the COVID 19 situation.

Mr. Brain suggests to the Globe that the launch will take place in late 2020, or perhaps early 2021 whenever the time is appropriate, the focus of that civic initiative will be one to entice workers to move to the North Coast.

The article puts some focus on the Redesign Rupert planning as well, along with the city's projections for almost a doubling of the population for the city within ten years time.

Some of the other themes explored in the Globe article the opening of the AltaGas shipment terminal at Ridley Island, the ongoing work by Pembina on Watson Island and the increased level of involvement of both Metlakatla and Lax Kw'a'laams into the economic structure of the region.

You can review the full article from Sunday here.

For more items of note related to Port development in the region see our archive page here.