The Canadian West Port of Vancouver and Prince Rupert's 13-day docks strike ended when the International Terminals and Warehouses Union (Canada) and the British Columbia Maritime Employers Association agreed on the terms of a temporary four-year contract.
The strike caused multiple ships to divert from western Canada to Seattle and Tacoma, while also prompting at least two shutdowns. It also caused boat backlogs off Vancouver and Prince Rupert.
the strike shut down two major ports in western Canada and disrupted the schedule of trans-Pacific shipping. Vancouver and Prince Rupert may not fully recover from a 13-day dockworkers' strike until September.
Julia Kuzeljevich, director of policy and communications for the International Freight Forwarders Association of Canada, said the rule of thumb in the port and marine terminal industry is that ports are closed every day and it takes three to five days to recover. Operations at Prince Rupert and Canada's largest port, Vancouver, will take weeks to return to normal, possibly by September.
Sources said that given the eastbound trans-Pacific freight volume is less than usual, Canada's agricultural exports have not yet entered the peak season, and the recovery time may be shorter.
The Port of Vancouver website shows that all four of its container terminals had rail container stays of more than seven days, a level that is normally unattainable. David Bennett David Bennett, chief commercial officer of Farrow, a Canadian freight company, said that given the degree to which Vancouver and Prince Rupert rely on shipping containers by rail to major hubs such as Toronto, Montreal and Chicago, the actual recovery would take 10 days per day of strike, or more than four months.
Sources said that given the eastbound trans-Pacific freight volume is less than usual, Canada's agricultural exports have not yet entered the peak season, and the recovery time may be shorter.
Bennett pointed out that from the first day of the dockworkers' strike, Canadian Railways temporarily banned sending trains to the West Coast, and now redeploying trains and cars to ports also takes time.
CPKC expects recovery to be "extended"
A Canadian National Railway (CN) spokesman said CN is now focused on implementing its orderly recovery plan to resume operations to and from Vancouver and Prince Rupert. Canadian Pacific Kansas City Railway (CPKC) also said it is working closely with Marine Terminals to clear the traffic backlog as quickly and efficiently as possible.
British Columbia Trucking Association (BCTA) President and CEO David Earle David Earle said that 2/3 containers through Vancouver are transported by rail, receiving new inbound containers while clearing the backlog will take "several weeks".
A Vancouver Fraser Port Authority spokesperson said that the port's recovery measures include close cooperation and monitoring to ensure that port resources can best support time-sensitive cargo transportation and ensure fair distribution of shared resources.
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