Prospects for Biggest Container Ships at Eastern Canadian Super Port

Maersk Maritime is renowned for improving productivity in intercontinental freight transportation. While their e-class and triple-e ships are aimed at serving the Asia-Europe route via the Suez Canal, no North American port can presently berth and service Maersk’s triple-e ships. However, hints are emerging from Eastern Canada that Melford’s proposed terminal planned for 62º W in the Strait of Canso may be able to accommodate and service both the e-class and the bigger triple-e class ships. Should this happen, Melford-Canso super port may become the only North American east coast port to serve the triple-e class at full load.

The ports of Hong Kong-Canton, Singapore, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok and Perth-Fremantle are located within less than 180º east of the Strait of Canso, with ports of Taipei and Manila being located close to 120º E. Plans are under way at Sri Lanka to develop a super port that will serve as a gateway between the aforementioned Asian ports and European/ North American Atlantic ports. Smaller vessels may carry containers between ports east of Sri Lanka and the future port at Sri Lanka, to interline with Maersk’s e and triple-e container ships.

Melford-Canso super port could evolve into a future super-ship gateway or hub for multiple North American east coast and inland ports. It may also serve as a port-of-call for super ships sailing between another east coast port and either European or Asian ports, that is, after another American Atlantic port is suitably modified to berth and service the triple-e ships. Until such time, Melford terminal may evolve into the sole container transfer point where cranes would provide vessel-to-vessel container transfers between triple-e ships and smaller vessels that connect to other older east coast American ports.

Considering the maritime distance between the South China Sea and Gulf of St Lawrence, the close proximity between Shanghai and Hong Kong could see a single triple-e ship sailing between Shanghai via Hong Kong and Melford-Canso terminal. The added capacity aboard the big ship would offer competitive rates sailing via the Suez Canal, compared to smaller ships sailing between the same ports via the Panama Canal, incurring a transit cost per container of US$100 to US$150 and a delay in transit time. Being a port under construction, Melford planners could include berthing triple e-class ships at the terminal.

Melford-Canso terminal site has available space for extended port operations that include temporary storage and sorting of containers, necessary space otherwise unavailable at the ports of Boston or Halifax. There would be savings in transportation costs per container should Maersk triple-e class ships be allowed to carry combined loads of American and Canadian containers between European/Asia ports and Melford terminal. The alternative would be higher transportation costs aboard 2-smaller ships sailing in accordance with the (counter-productive) Jones Act of 1920 that forbid American ships sailing between American ports from stopping at a Canadian port.

An operational precedent from the Port of New Orleans has made it the hub or gateway of the Gulf inter-coastal waterway. The future Melford-Canso terminal may become the hub of an international inter-coastal Atlantic waterway serving both east coast and inland ports. Beside super carriers, a variety of other ship technologies may call at Melford terminal to serve Atlantic coastal ports as well as inland ports along the St Lawrence River and Seaway. Seawaymax and Panamax size ships may sail an east-coast container ‘shuttle’ service, with tows of various sizes of barges sailing to smaller east coast and inland ports.

Operating as a transportation hub for a North American Atlantic inter-coastal waterway, Melford-Canso super port may serve as the super ship gateway for ports that include Portland, Bangor, Portsmouth, Boston, Providence, Bridgeport, New York, Newark, Wilmington/Philadelphia/Camden, Baltimore and Norfolk. A potentially high volume of combined container traffic may move internationally between multiple North American ports that connect via the Melford-Canso hub and multiple Asian ports that may connect via the future Sri Lanka hub. That volume may be sufficient to warrant regular operation of Maersk triple-e class container ships between maritime transportation hubs located in Eastern Canada, Europe and Asia. 

There is the prospect of Melford Terminals developing their Canadian super port and it becoming North America’s only northeastern Atlantic coast terminal to berth and service Maersk’s e-class and triple-e class ships. That prospect could provide a viable market for Maersk’s big ships to sail to Melford-Canso Terminal, expanding their route system beyond the Europe-Asia container transportation market. While the added distance between Melford Terminal and Asian super ports justifies moving large container loads aboard a single large ship, it may also become feasible to sail the super ships between a European super port and Melford Terminal.

Tug Barge Tows:

Using precedents from ports such as New Orleans and Rotterdam, Canso super port may offer both vessel-to-vessel transfer and transfer between vessel and land transport. Several east coast and inland ports upstream along the St Lawrence River can only accommodate ‘Seawaymax’ size of ships. These ships may be converted into barges. A leading tug could pull a 2-unit train or tow of closely coupled ‘Seawaymax’ barges modified with V-notch sterns along the American northeast coast, with a remotely controlled trailing tug pushing and partly navigation at the stern of the tow, guided by automated navigation by Autonav.  

A combination of ‘Seawaymax’ barge tows and refurbished older generation ‘Panamax’ ships may operate container shuttle services between Canso super port and several older east coast ports. Based on a precedent that already operates successfully on the Great Lakes, there may be scope to remove the engine and fuel tanks from an older ‘Panamax’ ship to increase payload capacity and operate it as a tug barge, perhaps with one tug towing ahead of the bow and another pushing and navigating at the stern, or remotely controlled twin tugs pushing and navigating at the stern.

Conclusions:

There are prospects for Melford to develop their east coast Canadian terminal to accommodate the largest container ships afloat and may be the only east coast port to serve such ships. As an international transfer point and hub, it would prompt owners and operators of the largest ships afloat to evaluate business prospects of regularly calling at that port and offering very competitive international container transportation rates to customers, including the cost of interlining with domestic maritime traffic that serve other ports. An evaluation of logistics and related transportation economics suggests future viable operations at Melford-Canso super port.