Just as the ‘Phase 2’ northward expansion is currently underway by the Prince Rupert Port Authority (PRPA) and DP World for the Fairview Container Terminal, which will raise the terminal’s capacity to 1.3 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) upon completion in 2017, the two organizations announced Monday that they will be conducting a ‘Phase 2 South’ Feasibility Study.
That expansion would raise the terminal’s capacity from 1.3 million TEUs to between 2 and 2.5 million TEUs.
In a release sent out by the PRPA and DP World, the study includes DP World examining current marine liner services and container volume growth forecasts for trans-Pacific trade on the west coast. The owner-operator DP World would “weigh demand for activation of Fairview’s Phase 2 South expansion to align the project schedule with market demand.”
“Phase 2 South ... would provide capacity to meet Canada’s Pacific container terminal capacity requirements for decades to come in a cost-effective and environmentally responsible manner,” said Maksim Mihic, DP World Canada group general manager, who signed the agreement for the feasibility study with Don Krusel, PRPA president and CEO on Sunday.
“The growth in traffic at the Fairview Terminal, North America’s fastest-growing intermodal gateway, has been a validation of the Prince Rupert advantages in trans-Pacific shipping. We are pleased to see DP World ready to seize those advantages and move forward with planning the terminal’s continued expansion,” Krusel said.
Government of Canada approval and environmental assessment certification was received for Phase 2 South expansionary action in 2012.
By Nov. 30, 718,815 TEUs had been shipped through the terminal, one of North America’s fastest-growing, which signifies a year-to-date growth of more than 29 per cent over 2014.