Roberts Bank Superport

Roberts Bank is home to a twin-terminal port facility located on the mainland coastline of the Strait of Georgia in Delta, British Columbia. Opened in 1970 with Westshore Terminals as its only tenant, Roberts Bank was expanded in 1983–84, and in June 1997 opened a second terminal, the GCT Deltaport container facility.

Deltaport aerial view 2014
Location of Roberts Bank Superport in the Greater Vancouver region

Part of Port of Vancouver, Roberts Bank is also known as the Outer Harbour of Canada's busiest port. Westshore is the busiest single coal export terminal in North America and is operated by the Westar Group on a long-term contract. It typically ships over 20 million tonnes of export coal a year and early in 2010 completed a $49-million equipment upgrade, bringing its capacity from 24 million to 29 million tonnes per year.

Like the Tsawwassen Ferry Terminal to the southeast, Roberts Bank was built at the end of a long causeway over a shallow bank. Originally created as a 20-hectare (49-acre) pod of reclaimed land for a major coal port, it is now four times that size. In January 2010, Deltaport added a third berth and doubled its capacity. It is now one of the busiest import/export ports in North America and a major hub for container trucking companies.

Roberts Bank is serviced by CN Rail, CP Rail, and BNSF Railway. Seaspan International provides tugboat services to both terminals at peninsula.

Incidents

On December 7, 2012, the Panama-registered and Japan-owned bulk carrier Cape Apricot crashed into a causeway at the Westshore coal terminal, destroying about 100 metres of the structure, including a coal conveyor system, according to the Vancouver Sun.[1] Port Metro Vancouver's Harbour Master said that this was first marine accident in the 42-year history of the coal terminal.[2] The accident resulted in an estimated 30 tonnes of coal going into the water from the severed conveyor and the disabling of the largest of the terminal's two coal-loading berths. It was estimated that reconstruction of the conveyor system would be completed by March 31, 2013.[2] The berth was returned to service in February 2013. Reconstruction of the causeway was completed in late April 2013.[3]

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References
  • "Roberts Bank (port)". BC Geographical Names.
  1. https://vancouversun.com/news/Roberts+Bank+coal+port+crash+under+investigation/7786285/story.html
  2. Vancouver Sun, January 4, 2013.
  3. "Marine Investigation Report M12W0207". Transportation Safety Board of Canada. Government of Canada. Retrieved 2015-12-18.
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