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Oshawa port sees first ship of season

The NACC Quebec made a stop in Oshawa this past weekend, marking the start of the 2020 shipping season. Seen here are, from left, Claudio Faria, Oshawa Site Manager, Hamilton-Oshawa Port Authority; Ian Hamilton, President and CEO, Hamilton-Oshawa Port Authority; Harold Ouellon, Nova Algoma Captain – NACC Quebec; Vicki Gruber – Manager, Port Security and Harbour Master, Hamilton-Oshawa Port Authority; and Pierre Tetreault, Nova Algoma Chief Engineer, NACC Quebec.

The Oshawa port has seen its first visitor of the season.

Domestic cement carrier, NACC Quebec, arrived at the Oshawa pier over the weekend, officially kicking off the 2020 marine shipping season.

Sailing from Port-Daniel-Gascon, along the southern shore of the Gaspé Peninsula in Quebec, the NovaAlgoma laker pulled into dock 3 with a load of cement for McInnis, which was unloaded by local stevedore QSL, states a press release.

Captain Harold Ouellon was presented with a ceremonial top hat and gift by the Hamilton-Oshawa Port Authority’s Harbour Master, Vicki Gruber, on the pier beside the ship’s stern.

Due to the threat of COVID-19, this was a very different and distanced take on the traditional top hat ceremony. Normally, the Harbour Master would come aboard the first vessel to congratulate the captain and crew, the release states.

Captain Harold has been sailing for 35 years and has been adapting to the new processes, just like everyone else who works on the water.

“Like most people working in essential services, we are at work to keep the goods moving and keep the Canadian economy flowing, but certain measures are being taken on board which did not ever exist before,” says the captain in the release.

After setting sail from Oshawa, the ship was heading back up the St Lawrence Seaway to Port Daniel-Gascon up at the McInnis cement plant.

This is the port authority’s first top hat ceremony in Oshawa since the amalgamation of Oshawa and Hamilton’s ports last June. HOPA Ports President & CEO Ian Hamilton was also on hand to welcome the ship and celebrate Oshawa’s season start.

Despite the ongoing coronavirus crisis, Hamilton is confident heading into the season, as maintaining the integrity of supply chains is now more important than ever.

“We are doing things differently to prevent the spread COVID-19, but we will ensure Canadian goods continue to move throughout the Great Lakes, and into international markets. Our planned new investments at the Port of Oshawa will help stimulate an economic restart once the crisis subsides,” says Hamilton.

Designated as an essential service by federal and provincial governments, Canadian ports and the businesses that underpin the movement of goods are operational in spite of COVID-19.

Canada’s ports are crucial to delivering key commodities to various industrial sectors, such as agriculture and construction. The cement that comes into Oshawa’s port, for example, feeds construction projects across Durham and the GTA. The fluidity of ports across the country will help maintain Canada’s economic resilience throughout the crisis and bolster its recovery on the other side.

Though the 2020 marine shipping season is now underway in Oshawa and Hamilton, it is not quite business as usual.

According to the release, additional safety precautions have been set by Transport Canada for all (domestic and international) ships calling Canadian ports, in order to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Some of these measures include reporting the health of personnel aboard a vessel to the Public Health Agency of Canada 96 hours prior to its arrival in port and throughout its journey, as well as isolating anyone who is symptomatic or has been in contact with a symptomatic individual for 14 days.

 

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