CN welcomes official opening of Port of Prince Rupert container terminal

Jeff Berman, Senior Editor -- Logistics Management, 9/13/2007

PRINCE RUPERT, British Columbia—The Canadian National Railway Company (CN) formally welcomed the opening of the Port of Prince Rupert Container terminal yesterday.

Through a partnership with Maher Terminals, the Prince Rupert Port Authority, and the British Columbia and Canadian governments, CN  Vice President of Sales and Marketing James M. Foote said in a statement the Class I railroad carrier is now well-positioned to provide shippers with “a seamless door-to-door transportation solution and to ensure the safe and secure flow of goods throughout the North American continent.”

Foote added that CN’s partnership with Maher Terminals and the Prince Rupert Port Authority will provide shippers with the fastest, most efficient and most cost-efficient routing for Asian Traffic destined to and from North America’s interior, including Toronto, Montreal, Chicago, and Memphis.

According to an article in the Memphis-based Commercial Appeal published in March, CN has invested approximately $140 million in port facilities in Prince Rupert, which will provide shippers with a shorter route across the Pacific Ocean and less congestion when moving freight into various North America markets. The article added that CN expects to be annually transferring 500,000 TEUs from ships docked at Prince Rupert.

CN added that the Port of Prince Rupert is the closest port to Asia by up to 58 hours of sailing time in comparison to any other West Coast port in North America, providing shippers with one extra round-trip voyage per year. And it added that the Port of Prince Rupert is strategically located to handle excess capacity on one of the world’s busiest shipping corridors; it also has short-term expansion plans.

COSCO as a customer:
Last month, Logistics Management reported that the China Ocean Shipping Company (COSCO) will begin calling Maher Terminals new container terminal at the Port of Prince Rupert next quarter.

COSCO is the first ocean carrier to officially sign up with the port and said at the time that it will provide shippers with a major new gateway to and from the West Coast of North America and Asia along with alleviating the congestion experienced by nearly all U.S. West Coast ports.

“We have secured 25 percent of the port’s annual capacity and have first refusal on new capacity as a the port grows, a COSCO spokesman told LM. And under the terms of COSCO’s partnership with CN, the carriers will provide rail service from Prince Rupert to several North American-based markets, including Chicago, Memphis, Nashville, Detroit, Toronto, and Montreal, according to the spokesman. A COSCO statement added that this railroad partnership was created to give shippers access to CN’s on-dock, high-capacity, double-stack rail network.

Port of Prince Rupert intermodal service:
In April, officials at the Memphis World Trade Club, Memphis Regional Chamber, Mallory Alexander International Logistics, and CN announced the launch of an intermodal service between Prince Rupert and Memphism which is slated to kick off in October.

CN AVP of Intermodal Marketing Peter Ladouceur told LM that when this service is underway there will be daily train service between Prince Rupert and Memphis on 117-hour schedules.