( Legislative Library,
Parliament Budi lei ngs
| Victoria BC.

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 27, 1989
Nok 8 5, Asaue No. 52

NCU TEN

V8V LX4 OT

‘Phone 635-7840

SD as tetera

shee et

hae tials

vod

| | “the Prince Rupert area. It serves just one

i's-a ctitical link in securing the high

~ But Wareise ‘atiother important port in

= company, and handles only one. pio-
oF duct, but to customers around the world

quality bleached kraft pulp produced
at Skeena:Pulp. .
. The “Port of. Skeena Pulp”. was

oe originally a, deep ‘sea wharf. built by

American. Armed Forces. during World

/ Modified” In the 1950s by. the

SKEENA CELLULOSE INC,
Skeena Pulp Operations

“pull the original sulphite mill on Watson
Island, the wharf was extensively

' destroyed by fire in the mid-4960s and
.» rebuilt in reinforced concrete. The last of -
the original wharf was replaced during
+. Warllto: ship materials to the campaign oo

“te the Aleutian Islands. .

the milt's 1988 modernization program.
The concrete what Is 62 feet wide

_ and 864 feet tong, and runs parallel to

_Celanese Corporatiori of Canada, who —

“The Skeena Pulp mill’s port handles ovel 400, 000 tonnes of high quality bleached kraft ti pulp per year,
destined for international markets.

the shoreline In a north-south direction

Harbour.

Now in operation 24 hours a day’.
saven days a week, the port handles
over 400,000 tonnes of pulp per year, or
90 per cent of the mill's total annual pro-
duction capacity. (The balance Is ship-
ped by rall to Midtec Paper Corpora-

tion, a Repap Enterprises’ division In .
Wisconsin.). >. «:

~" Five - specially ' designed: jractors

 known-as “Ottawas” are used to haul.

the packaged pulp from the mill tothe

wharf on fraller loaders capable of haul-

- ing about 35 metric tonnes each. Actual.

ship loading is the responsibility of

“ longsheremen and the » shipping:
.companies.

CUSTOMER ACCESS |
Compared to southern BC. ports,

Skeena Pulp’s port Is 440 nautical miles
closer to most Asian markets, meaning

a potential savings in salling time oftup --. ;

to one and a half days in each direc-
tlon. As the closest North American pro-

ducer of premium grade pulp to Japan, — :

Skeena exports approximately 30 per
cent of its production to that country,
with its other primary markets In Europe
and the Far East.

The most frequent visitors to the mill's :

port are ships belonging to Gearbulk
Shipping Canada Ltd., headquartered
in Bergen, Norway. The largest of these
vessels are over 600 feet long (about the
length of two football fields) with a beam
of 95 feet and a deadweight of almost
42,000 tonnes. Despite thelr size, the

ships are surprisingly efficient working - mo

vessels, manned with a crew of only 20
people.

Traffic 10 and from the port is cons:

tant and fo some extent not totally

predictable. It takes between three and -
four days to load each ship, with.
scheduling complicated by the fact that

arrival times for deep sea vessels, sail:

ing at 43.5 knots per hour and subject: vie oo

io adverse weather conditions at sea, -

can only be approximated and not tled a
to exact days. and times. rs
Inthe course of a year, three regular :
loaders will tie up at the dock each. -
month to take pulp destined for =<.

JapaniKorea, Europe/the United

Kingdom and the Mediterranean. In ad:
dition, one loader arrives each quarter 7
for shipments to Southeast Asia including.
Indonesia, Talwan and Thalland, with@
second loader each quarter ¢ destined my

for China.

Cee ea aa ene ee

about 700 feet out into Porpolse

eet