Ep. 162: Is Shipping in British Columbia Waters Safe?

Guest: Robert Lewis-Manning, BC Chamber of Shipping

Every year, Western Canada’s gateway generates over 21 billion dollars in economic activity.

Each year, thousands of ships transit BC’s coastal waterways, bringing cargo in and taking it out. The new Oceans Protection Plan lays out a number of issues the federal government is requiring the shipping industry to meet.

Tougher regulations require working with First Nations and indigenous communities to identify environmentally sensitive areas of cultural, social and economic importance. There are stronger polluter pay principles, identification of safe refuge sites, 24/7 emergency response and the continued modernization of the ship pilot regime.

And then there is the impact of shipping on the southern resident whale population. Does the underwater noise generated by ships play a large role in preventing orcas from identifying the location of the chinook salmon that is the staple of their diet?

The BC Chamber of Shipping and its members participated in the Port Metro ECHO program where ships reduced speed to 11 knots in Haro Strait in an effort to reduce ambient noise and better understand the relationship between speed, noise and the effects on killer whales.

Looming in the background is an increase in oil and LNG tanker traffic.

To discuss what the shipping industry is doing to meet these concerns, issues, and regulations, we invited the President of the Chamber of Shipping, Robert Lewis-Manning, to join us for a Conversation That Matters about protecting our coastal waters.