Vancouver Island finally gets a container ship port

Duke Point Terminal | BCBusiness

Nanaimo Port Authority’s Duke Point Terminal welcomed its first container ship, the MV Westwood Pacific, on a trial call Tuesday

As a recent recipient of $4.5 million via the federal government’s Asia Pacific Gateway Corridor Initiative Program, the Nanaimo Port Authority (NPA) will be upgrading its container operations, which currently includes only one container crane.
 
Since 2012, when the NPA signed a three-year agreement for DP World Vancouver to operate the Port of Nanaimo’s facilities, the two parties have been working to develop direct service from Vancouver Island to Asia. According to DP World’s general manager, Maksim Michic, Vancouver Island was the largest island in the Americas without container cargo shipping operations.
 
In a press release, Mihic said the new port “gives customers the option of now having direct access between Vancouver Island and major Asian ports as well as using the container barge service DP World Vancouver operates from the same facility to ship to Vancouver.”
 
This week’s successful call of the MV Westwood Pacific, with express service to Japan and Korea and feeder service to other Asian ports, is expected to lead to regular service after one more trial call next month. The main cargo will be lumber, pulp, bottled water and recycling.
 
Westwood Shipping Lines operates both break bulk and container service to Asia.