Recent expansions at the Port of Prince Rupert are solidifying its role in global trade, while export volumes across its six terminals are also beginning to pick up.
Foreign cargo volumes rose from 5.99 million tonnes in the first quarter of 2024 to 6.35 million tonnes in the same period this year.
Last month, the Port became part of the Mediterranean Shipping Company’s (MSC) Chinook service, which is their major regular transpacific route. Prince Rupert welcomed the inaugural visit of the MSC Aurora on March 17. MSC is one of the world’s largest shipping lines, renowned for its extensive routes and capacity.
“This will strengthen trade and connectivity between Vietnam, South Korea, China, Canada, and the rest of North America,” said Olivia Mowatt, senior communications officer at the Prince Rupert Port Authority (PRPA).
The Port of Prince Rupert also recently marked the inaugural call of the Gemini Cooperation. This is part of a new long-term operational collaboration between two major global shipping companies, A.P. Moller-Maersk and Hapag-Llyod AG. The cooperation offers a comprehensive network covering seven major trade routes, of which Prince Rupert has become a part.
The Port says that Gemini Cooperation will prioritize schedule reliability to increase on-time delivery of containers, reinforcing the Port of Prince Rupert’s reputation for providing speed, reach, and reliability for shippers.
“The expanded maritime reach these services and alliances represent supports the Port of Prince Rupert’s efforts to diversify transpacific trade and develop greater supply chain resiliency,” said Mowatt.
The Prince Rupert Port Authority is working to build on intermodal trade by constructing two key facilities, CANXPORT and the South Kaien Import Logistics Park (SKILP). Intermodal trade is the movement of freight using multiple modes of transportation.
CANXPORT is a new trans-loading facility being constructed on southern Ridley Island. It’s designed to help move goods like crops, wood, and plastic resin products from trains into shipping containers for export. The company Ray-Mont Logistics will run it, and it will be able to handle up to 400,000 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units – a standard unit of measurement for cargo capacity on container ships, relative to a 20-foot shipping container) of annual capacity.
For comparison, DP World at the nearby Fairview Terminal handled about 739,000 TEUs in all of 2024. So, CANXPORT will be a major addition. It could also expand in the future to handle more types of goods.
SKILP is another new project being developed by PRPA in partnership with Metlakatla First Nation’s Development Corporation.
The main business tenant there will be LinX, a facility that helps organize and move goods. It will connect shipping from Asia to distribution hubs across North America. The first phase being built will feature a large, 100-door cross-dock loading area, giving shipping companies more flexibility in managing cargo.
