A ceremony held earlier this week by global terminal operator DP World marked the company’s newest terminal expansion project, a $140 million project in Vancouver in British Columbia.
Construction on the project began in the third quarter of 2004, according to Gulf News. Its first expansion phase was recently completed when the second of the renewed berths began taking vessel calls.
The renewed berths now accommodate vessels to a depth of 15.5 meters, making the terminal’s capacity 800,000 TEU, up from 360,000 TEU previously, with a potential to further expand the terminal to reach a capacity of 1.2 million TEU.
The terminal became part of the DP World network with the acquisition earlier this year of P&O group.
"Vancouver has considerable potential as a gateway terminal to Canada and also to the United States. As cargo moves north in order to avoid congestion that continues to put pressure on west coast ports, Vancouver will benefit. But, importantly, Vancouver is a destination port itself, and we see demand for marine terminal services increasing," stated DP World Chairman Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem.
The opening ceremony was attended both by Sulayem and by Vancouver’s Minister of Transportation, Kevin Falcon.
