The situation is so bad now that British Columbia harbours
are clogged with empty ships waiting for grain-hauling trains to arrive.
For several
days there have been as many as 35 ships at anchor around the Port of Vancouver
and another handful at Port of Prince Rupert awaiting trains to arrive with wheat,
canola and other western crops destined for overseas buyers, reports the Globe
and Mail.
Robert
Lewis-Manning, president of the Chamber of Shipping in Vancouver, said the
slowdown in rail shipments means vessels are being forced up to a month before
their holds are filled with grain. One vessel arrived on Dec. 31 and had to
wait until last weekend for its cargo, he said.
"We're
seeing a lag effect of congestion in the supply chain on land, largely related
to rail, now starting to impact the coast," Mr. Lewis-Manning said by
phone. "And you could see this could back up even further. I have little
doubt that there are vessels en route to Canada and when they get here and
there's no place to wait they're going to be loitering off the coast, and
that's a situation we don't want."
