Canada: CBRM Launches Effort to Develop Container Terminal in Sydney

The Cape Breton Regional Municipality (CBRM), located in Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada, has launched a marketing campaign to promote the strategic advantages of developing a container shipping port terminal in Sydney harbor.

The announcement comes after CBRM recently agreed to purchase approximately 500 acres of greenfield waterfront land for the purpose of building a container terminal that will create jobs and lasting economic benefit for the community of Cape Breton. The regional municipality, second largest in Nova Scotia, will explore the potential of entering a long-term concession agreement with an interested terminal operator.

The greenfield site being acquired by CBRM sits on the edge of a newly dredged channel into the Port of Sydney that can accommodate without any restriction the world’s largest container vessels. Dredging was completed in January this year with local and federal funding. Dredge spoils have been used to create a 150-acre expansion of the greenfield site directly adjacent to the Port of Sydney channel.

The Port of Sydney is North America’s easternmost harbor and closest to the Suez Canal. It sits just six miles from the sea buoy marking the Great Circle Route (GCR) from Europe and the Mediterranean, offering considerable strategic advantages for ocean carriers. The Port of Sydney also offers unrestricted double-stack rail access to major inland cargo clusters in the U.S. Midwest along with the potential for network feeder services along the U.S. East Coast.

Furthermore, a container terminal development in Sydney offers the most compelling competitive economics in North America, including the lowest cost to build per TEU and the lowest ongoing operating expenses per TEU. All permits have been received for construction and are fully assignable. Labor agreements are in progress with the International Longshoremen’s Association, AFL-CIO, (ILA) to ensure Sydney’s competitive advantages are realized. Further announcements will be made in the near future as the project develops.

CBRM Mayor John W. Morgan said, “For the people and the economy of our region, we are launching this effort with the full support of our community to develop the greenfield site as the future location of an international container terminal. The potential for job creation and long-term economic growth is critical to the future of Cape Breton.”