Marine Terminal

The new marine terminal will be located on the north shore of the south arm of the Fraser River, at one of the widest and deepest sections of the river.  An upgrade of an existing wharf, in an area that is already zoned for heavy industrial use, will be based on best practice designs and incorporate state-of-the-art mooring and offloading technologies.

Vessels will be double-hulled for optimal safety. All vessel movements on the Fraser River are controlled by the Fraser River Pilots Association. Government-certified marine pilots will command the ships on the river.  Escort tugs will be used during berthing and deberthing.

VAFFC will also develop a comprehensive Spill Prevention and Emergency Response Plan and implement best practices with all vessels.

The marine terminal will be designed to handle small barge shipments as well as large overseas shipments. These will be short in duration and only a few times a month, based on projected YVR fuel demand. A barge could be expected to deliver fuel once every two weeks with an unloading time of around 12 hours, while a Panamax class vessel could be expected once a month with an unloading time of between 24 and 36 hours.

Marine transportation of aviation fuel and other petroleum products within the Lower Mainland is not new. This new terminal will be receiving the vessels that are currently making deliveries to the Westridge Marine Terminal in Burrard Inlet. In addition, barges are currently passing the river mouth and transporting bunker fuel on the Fraser River.