March 3, 2020 – With the increasing number of coronavirus cases worldwide, the economic impact on international trade will be significant. Canaan Transport remains vigilant in ensuring that customers are well notified of impacts to their supply chains. We have also instituted measures to protect our staff at our locations.
March 3, 2020 – The container shipping industry is facing up to acute shortages of boxes at ports in Europe and North America, a situation that could worsen in the coming weeks. Data from Hamburg-based Container xChange shows that, thanks to the coronavirus and record numbers of blanked sailings, storage yards at Chinese terminals are overflowing with steel boxes, while equipment is running down at major ports elsewhere. Despite clear signs that Chinese ports are getting busier for a variety of commodities, the number of boxes waiting to be offloaded at Chinese ports continues to climb, according to data published yesterday. We continue to urge our customers to advise us of your forecasted bookings as soon as possible so that space can be secured.
March 1, 2020 – . — Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs and senior government ministers reached a proposed arrangement Sunday following days of discussions over a pipeline dispute that prompted solidarity protests and transport disruptions across Canada. Details of the draft deal, which centres on Indigenous rights and land titles, were not disclosed, however, and work on the Coastal GasLink natural gas pipeline at the heart of the dispute was set to resume on Monday. A joint statement released by representatives of Wet’suwet’en Nation, the province and the federal government acknowledged that they had not come to an agreement on the pipeline. The Wet’suwet’en are governed by both a traditional hereditary chief system and elected band councils. A majority of its councils have approved the pipeline, but some of the Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs oppose it running through their traditional territory. However, this agreement may not be honored by other First nations groups as the secretary of the Mohawk Nation of Kahnawake have already stated that they will maintain their rail blockade on the territory south of Montreal, at least for now. Canaan Transport currently anticipates continued delays on major rail corridors as freight trains are moving but may be affected by illegal strikes in the coming days.
February 28, 2020 – The latest news indicates that although freight is moving along the various rail corridors in Canada, continued militant and unforeseen action is still wrecking havoc on timely deliveries. Empirically, our company has discovered that containerized cargo inbound from Asia to Eastern Canada are experiencing total delays of between 2-4 weeks upon arrival into Canada.
February 25, 2020 – DP World, one of the world’s largest port operators, announced yesterday it has completed the acquisition of Fraser Surrey Docks, with its partner Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec. This acquisition complements DP World’s footprint in Canada, which also includes terminal operations in Vancouver, Nanaimo, Prince Rupert and St. John’s. The integrated coast-to-coast platform provides customers with bulk, breakbulk and general cargo services.
February 24, 2020 – Freight trains began moving between Toronto and Montreal late today as the blockade was finally cleared. We anticipate that normal operations will resume by the weekend as long as no more blockades are put into place and we thank our customers for their patience during this time.
February 24, 2020 – Ontario provincial police are moving this morning to clear a rail blockade on Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory. The blockade near Belleville, Ont., has crippled both freight and passenger rail traffic in most of eastern Canada for nearly three weeks.
February 23, 2020 – The Ontario Provincial Police have given a deadline to the rail line protesters to clear the blockade by midnight Monday Feb. 24th or else enforcement action will be taken. This comes as welcome news for our customers that have been affected by this ongoing delay on rail traffic between Toronto and Montreal
February 22, 2020 – The illegal blockade in Saint Lambert, QC, east of Montreal, QC has ended, allowing CN Rail to resume service in the area. The illegal blockade in Tyendinaga, ON, east of Belleville, ON, is ongoing and now into its 16th day. In the East, due to the current illegal blockades, CN Rail has adjusted their operations but have been forced to only run limited service in the impacted areas until the illegal blockades end. In the West, CN is slowly recovering from the blockades and hopes to be back to normal operations in the coming week.
February 21, 2020 – All inland rail cargo must be evacuated immediately from the Port of Montreal as per a special notification provided this afternoon. Import rail containers dwelling more than 5 calendar days will be charged terminal storage, effective Tuesday, February 25th, 2020. MGT said it will offer storage compensation for all current grounded containers which are diverted to truck. This compensation will be applicable only to units diverted through Monday, February 24th, 3:00P.M. Shifting costs will apply.