Nova Scotia Deepwater Terminal Moves Forward

Published Dec 14, 2015 11:42 AM by The Maritime Executive

Canadian firm Harbor-Port Development Partners (HPDP) have announced an agreement with China Communications Construction Company (CCCC) for collaboration on the design and construction of the Port of Sydney, Nova Scotia's proposed container terminal.

CCCC is the world’s largest port engineering and development company. It will complete a feasibility study and development plan, and following an approval CCCC would undertake final design and construction, to include cranes and gantries.

Chang Yunbo, CCCC Vice President, said that the company “views Sydney’s deep water harbor as a potential game-changer for the North American eastern seaboard.”

HPDP was formed specifically for the project, which it intends to develop into the “most efficient, technologically advanced port in North America,” able to accommodate modern ultra large container vessels like Maersk's Triple E class.

The partners intend to leverage Canada's free trade agreements with Europe and America, as well as rail links with the Canadian mainland and the nearby U.S. border, in order to make East Coast markets accessible to operators of 14,000+ TEU container ships. Proximity to the Northwest Passage over Canada (which may open for commercial traffic as sea ice becomes less prevalent) and the opening of the new Panama Canal expansion are also cited as factors for its development.

At present the largest container vessel to call at a port on the eastern seaboard of the U.S. was the 10,000 TEU Zim Tianjin, with about half the cargo capacity of the latest vessels. Channel depth and air draft issues limit many U.S. East Coast ports.

The Sydney port prospectus outlines a wharf of 1,600 meters in length able to accommodate vessels of 16.5 meters draft – half a meter more than the world's largest container ships by TEU, the MSC vessels Oliver, Zoe, and Maya. The harbor is free of bridges or obstructions over approaches.

HPDP suggests a terminal capacity of 750,000 TEU per year in the first phase and 1.5 million TEU in the second.