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The Port of Montreal is looking for changes to the Canada Marine Act to help level the playing field between it and competing eastern seaboard ports, Montreal port president Patrice Pelletier said Thursday.
Pelletier said the amendments to the Maritime act have gone through second reading in Parliament and he is optimistic that the legislation will pass by summer.
The port president said the changes would help the port diversify its fundraising methods to help pay for an expansion he sees coming in the next 10 years, as well as to more effectively fight competition.
Pelletier made the comments after presenting the traditional Gold-Headed Cane to the captain of the first ocean-going vessel to enter the Port of Montreal in 2008.
Pelletier noted that Montreal's main rivals are on North America's eastern seabord - New York, Norfolk, Va., Savannah, Ga., and Charleston, West Virginia.
"These ports have benefitted from massive government subsidies, not only in port infrastructure but in the rail and road infrastructure so it's no longer a level playing field in that sense so they are dangerous," he said.
Montreal, he said, is positioned to compete against these ports in the midwestern United States.
"We still have great advantages in terms of rail networks and so on and efficiency. But with the massive investments, they are catching up so we certainly have to do the same as them in terms of increasing our funding, developing our infrastructure, particularly the rail infrastructure."
Changes to the Marine Act would permit the Port of Montreal to receive subsidies, which it cannot do under current legislation.
"That's one additional means," he said. "When we're talking about larger expansion and growth, we're talking in terms of funding in partnership with the private sector. In what form and shape, we will see."
He said there is considerable interest from the Quebec and federal governments in boosting the port's infrastructure with an eye to strengthening international trade.
Pelletier said he didn't think rising oil prices would put Montreal at a disadvantage but would be reflected in the tariffs charged by transport companies to their clients.
The port president said the facility is looking 10 years down the road as part of its business plan and he's certain there will be significant growth, in co-operation with the shipping lines and terminal operators.
For example, he foresees a continuing growth in container traffic, which was up 9.9 per cent in the first 11 months of 2007. "I see an expansion of the Port of Montreal, probably taking place in seven or eight years from now to accommodate this growth."
Pelletier also said security will be a priority in the port, as well as continuing to integrate it into Montreal in an environmentally friendly way.
"I see a great future," he said. "I'm very excited about what we will build in the years to come."
Pelletier presented the Gold-Headed Cane to Capt. Volker Hube, skipper of the container ship M/V Valentina, the first ocean-going vessel to enter the Port of Montreal this year.
The Marshall Islands-flagged ship crossed the port's limits at Sorel, Que., 21 minutes after midnight on Jan. 1.
In accepting the award, Hube drew chuckles as he recounted the spirited race between his ship and others to be the first into the port. He also paid tribute to the cane's tradition.
"Tradition means not to keep a basket full of ashes in some drawer," he said. "Tradition means to keep a candle burning and this trophy is like a candle and it has to be shining like a bright candle light."
The Gold-Headed Cane is awarded at the start of each navigation year to the captain of the first ship to reach the Port of Montreal directly from overseas, a tradition that dates to the'40s.
Source:RamblerNews
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