DP World Vancouver to operate Nanaimo port terminals

The two parties are looking at diversifying and pursuing commodities along with short sea shipping of containers to and from Vancouver Island. The current commodities handled at the three berth Port of Nanaimo comprise traditional forest products along with salt and kaolin. The facility also handles cruise ship passengers at a newly built berth opened for the 2011 cruise season.

Today, Vancouver Island is one of the world’s highest population, non-road connected islands without any lift-on, lift-off (lo-lo) container terminal facilities, relying instead on inefficient ro-ro services. The short sea shipping project will ensure greater connectivity for trade to and from Vancouver Island.

Bernie Dumas, President, Nanaimo Port Authority said, “We are very pleased to be working with DP World over the coming years. The port wants to import and export a greater variety of commodities and our agreement with DP World with its extensive experience in both container and commodity handling allows us to explore new business opportunities and to reduce our reliance on a single market.”