Marine Terminal

The new Marine Terminal will be located on the north shore of the south arm of the Fraser River, at one of the widest and deepest sections of the river. An upgrade of an existing wharf, in an area that is already zoned for heavy industrial use, will be based on best practice designs and incorporate state-of-the-art mooring and offloading technologies.

The marine terminal will be designed to handle small barge shipments and large overseas shipments. These will be short in duration and only a few times a month, based on projected YVR fuel demand. A barge could be expected to deliver fuel once every two weeks with an unloading time around 12 hours, while a Panamax class vessel could be expected 1-2 times per month with an unloading time of between 24 to 36 hours.

Marine transportation of aviation fuel and other petroleum products within the Lower Mainland is not new. This new terminal will be receiving the vessels that are currently making deliveries to the Westridge Marine Terminal in Burrard Inlet. 

Safety

The marine terminal will be a designated Oil Handling Facility ("OHF") under Transport Canada and comply with the standards and requirements of the Canada Shipping Act. The Marine Terminal will have a comprehensive Oil Pollution Emergency Plan incorporating specific response strategies tailored to the river environment. Western Canada Marine Response Corporation is the designated Response Organization in western Canada and will provide marine spill response services for both the terminal and shipping companies calling the terminal.

Vessels:

• All vessels will be double-hulled for optimal safety
• All vessel movements will be guided by tugboats and government-certified marine pilots on the river and at the Marine Terminal
• All vessels calling on the terminal will be pre-screened and vetted through a tanker acceptance program
• All vessels will have Shipboard Oil Pollution Emergency Plan, and required to carry pollution liability insurance