May has been a month for celebration in Vancouver, British Columbia, where logistics company DP World and the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority celebrated not only a newly completed Centerm Expansion Project at DP World Vancouver, but also the 100th anniversary of the port’s marine terminal operations.
DP World teamed with the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority to finish the Centerm Expansion Project, a $350 million CAD ($260 million U.S.) project to bolster throughput by 60%, with the larger terminal now able to process 1.5 million TEUs annually and add 15% to the terminal’s footprint overall.
“The 100th anniversary of terminal operations on the West Coast is a wonderful opportunity to celebrate Canada’s rich maritime and port history and look ahead to a future that includes DP World’s industry-leading technology and innovation in supply chains,” DP World Group Chairman and CEO Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem said in a May 19 announcement. “It’s also a chance for us, along with our employees and partners, to celebrate a responsible, sustainable, strategic approach to managing Canada’s network of ports and terminals.”
The port authority also completed the South Shore Access Project with the Government of Canada and the National Trade Corridors Fund and includes improving Waterfront Road and removing road and rail challenges in the area to directly link terminals to the Trans-Canada Highway.
These two projects will increase container trade capacity and resiliency at the port in the near term, the port authority’s president and CEO, Robin Silvester, said.
“As recent years have shown, a robust container sector is critical for Canadian exports and for reliable access to the goods Canadians depend on every day from markets around the world,” Silvester said, “and these projects represent an important piece of the puzzle when it comes to enabling Canadian trade.”