West Coast terminals impose fees for bogged down cargo

A look at an emerging trend in the bogged down cargo mess: West Coast terminals assessing fees on containers that just sit there for long periods without moving through the supply chain. In an increasingly expensive shipping environment, this isn’t very good news, but understandable for terminal owners.

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A miracle story from the frozen north

There’s a lot of upsetting news to be had these days, so it’s so great when we get to share a story that’s truly lovely.

The story starts when a fishing boat runs aground in Alaska and her crew needs help. A Coast Guard helicopter crew rescues the fishermen, but there’s still one missing – their 80 pound lab mix puppy, Grace, who went overboard as the boat capsized.

The next day when the Coast Guard came back to assess the aftermath of the incident, they discovered a small miracle on the beach: Grace – cold, but unharmed, and certainly living up to her name.

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King Tides – a time to watch the ocean from a safe distance

It’s King Tide time on the coast, and that means abnormally high tides. This natural phenomenon happens every winter. This weekend, we’ll see high tides reaching 9 feet, and extra low minus tides. That, combined with storm induced high swells on the beach, and elevated sneaker wave risk, can create a life threatening situation for unwary storm watchers.

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Pilot boats: a special breed

Today a look at a special vessel that is commonly seen on the Astoria waterfront: the pilot boat that takes pilots to and from passing ships. These boats are specially designed for demanding work that other boats avoid at all costs – coming in contact with the hull of a moving ship, and transporting pilots safely as they do a dangerous job.

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Shipping companies post record profits in the pandemic

A look at how some of the big container lines are faring in terms of profits in 2021. Turns out they’re having a banner year, with record profits in the billions, despite backups and cargo slowdowns.

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The Seafarers Happiness Index 2021

A look at an ongoing mariner survey called the Seafarer’s Happiness Index, which tracks workers’ level of satisfaction at sea. We’ll see how the pandemic affected things, and how they stand now.

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Missing containers in BC waters

Today we’ll take a look at what happens to missing shipping containers when they go overboard, especially if they float. In this case, containers that recently fell off the Zim Kingston in the waters off British Columbia. Floating containers are subject to local currents, as well as wind and weather.

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An indepth look at atmospheric rivers

Today, an indepth look at the phenomenon of the atmospheric river, where this term came from, how common are they, and how much water do they really carry up in the clouds?

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Update on the Zim Kingston: 109 containers lost at sea

The chilling news from the Strait of Juan de Fuca today: the containership Zim Kingston, which suffered a container fire on board this weekend and lost containers overboard in rough weather – actually lost 109 containers overboard, close to three times the number first thought to be lost.

Those containers are in the water somewhere near Vancouver Island. It’s unknown how many have sunk, or how many are still bobbing around out there, just below the surface, presenting a potentially deadly hazard to navigation.

Image of the Zim Kingston courtesy USCG.

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