HEALTHY COHABITATION

The purpose of the Rabaska project is to build a Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) import terminal in east-end Lévis, along the St. Lawrence Seaway.

Generally speaking, the arrival of LNG tankers, the double-hulled vessels used to transport LNG, will have only a very limited impact on existing pleasure boat and commercial shipping traffic. The Rabaska project will lead to a 2.5% increase in commercial traffic, i.e. 120 trips, or 60 tankers per year, in addition to the current 5,000 back and forth trips. As with oil tankers, there will minor restrictions on navigation during turning maneuvers upon tanker arrival or departure. Restrictions will last no more than 15 to 30 minutes once every six days.

There will be no restrictions on navigation while tankers are berthed, since the navigation channel is over ¾ nautical miles wide at this point. As for non-motorized pleasure craft, a space will be determined in collaboration with the boating community where small craft can pass beneath the trestle bridge linking the offshore docking facilities to those on shore. The space between the bridge pilings is approximately 45 meters. Pleasure boats, cruise ships, and commercial traffic will therefore not be affected by tanker traffic at the Rabaska terminal. The following section includes more relevant and useful information on the maritime dimensions of the project.

A SPECIALLY DESIGNED FLEET

The Rabaska LNG terminal will be served by a fleet of ships adapted to winter navigation on the St. Lawrence River. The tankers will be chartered for an extended period (20 to 25 years) for a succession of uninterrupted return trips (excluding regular scheduled maintenance every two to three years). The age of the tankers that will serve the terminal is not yet know, but given the winter conditions, the tankers will be specially built or adapted for the project.

Professional crews specialized in LNG

Crew certification standards meet International Maritime Organization conventions, including STCW 95 (Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping) and SOLAS (Safety of Life at Sea), as well as the IGC (International Gas Code) and ISM (International Safety Management) codes.

All crew members receive LNG training. Certain crew members specialize in LNG, particularly those in charge of cargo management (officer and gas assistants).

The LNG tanker: the Rolls-Royce of the sea

Design ship for the Rabaska project:

• Frequency of passage: once every 6 days; 24 hour stopover
• Transshipment of cargo in 12 to 14 hours
• Draft: 11.5 m
• Capacity: 160,000 m3 of LNG
• Displacement: 105,000 t
• 290 m long, 44 m wide
• Pressure in the tanks: Virtually atmospheric
• Two principles of tank design
  • Freestanding
  • Membrane
• Long-term time charter (20 years)
• A specialized and experienced team
• Periodic inspections (1, 2, 4 years)
• Meticulous regular ship maintenance
• Cargo in equilibrium with its gaseous phase, no inerting during unloading
• Transshipment using articulated cryogenic arms equipped with emergency stop and anti-spill devices
• Double-hulled tanker ships with separate ballast tanks
  • Steam powered. Cruising speed of app. 19 knots, primarily fueled by gas from the cargo (duel fuel boilers)
• The tankers are designed according to International Maritime Organization IGC (International Gas Code) design rules and standards

COMPARISON BETWEEN LNG TANKERS AND VESSELS THAT ALREADY USE THE SEAWAY AT QUEBEC CITY

THE SHIPPING ROUTE

The shipping lane to be used by LNG tankers is the same as the one currently used by vessel traffic arriving from the Atlantic Ocean en route for Quebec City. This route runs through Cabot and Honguedo straits to the piloting station in Les Escoumins. A possible alternative route into the gulf is via Strait of Belle-Isle and Jacques Cartier Strait, but only from July to September. Tankers would then continue on to Lévis along the north shore of the river, crossing at the Traverse du Nord and then taking Chenal des Grands Voiliers on the south side of île d’Orléans.

DOCKING AND DEPARTURE

Docking and undocking strategies are determined as part of the TERMPOL process based on simulated maneuvers.

Dockside operations involve cargo offloading followed by immediate departure. There will be no refueling at the jetty.

The total duration of the port stop is 24 hours, from the boarding of the docking pilot at the Saint-Laurent-de-l’Île-d’Orléans pilot station until pilot disembarkation, with approximately 22 hours of this time spent dockside.

It should be noted that the tankers have sufficient pump capacity for full ballasting (app. 50,000 m³) while unloading. There will be no deballasting in the St. Lawrence River. Tankers progressively pump in water as they offload their cargo.

BERTHING

The tanker berthing plan is based on extreme wind, wave, ice, and current conditions. The number of mooring lines is increased in winter when ice is present, even though the berth has protective caissons and the ice around the jetty is not subject to pressure.

The docking pilot remains on board and a standby tug with firefighting equipment remains in the vicinity during the entire time the ship is in berth. These measures are to allow for rapid departure if necessary. There are no meteorological thresholds beyond which tankers are required to undock, because the jetty is well oriented and protected from the wind. Furthermore, undocking operations are not limited or hindered by external conditions such as tides, currents, or compression by ice.

Transshipment operations will be halted in the event an electrical storm approaches to within 5,000 m or if winds exceed the limit set by the manufacturer of the unloading arms (typically 35 knots or more).

TERMPOL PROCESS

The technical assessment process for marine terminals and transshipment sites, better known as TERMPOL, applies to shipping in Canadian waters, as well as berths and transshipment facilities. This process, which is overseen by Transport Canada, is used to evaluate the safety of shipping and cargo handling processes. It also covers environmental protection and the technical specifications of vessels and port facilities.

Under the process, a review committee (TRC) led by Transports Canada was set up in December 2004, consisting primarily of government agencies. Members include representatives from various branches and divisions of Transport Canada, the Port of Québec, Environment Canada, Fisheries and Oceans, as well as three provincial ministries: Sécurité publique, Transports, and Développement durable, de l’Environnement et des Parcs.

Rabaska submitted all the studies required under TERMPOL in November 2005. They can be dound in Appendix F-2, Volume 3 of the Rabaska impact study.

These studies were then examined by TRC. Following a great deal of discussion between TRC and Rabaska, a number of complementary studies and simulations were conducted.

Throughout the TERMPOL process, over 100 maneuvers were simulated using the simulator belonging to the Corporation of Lower St. Lawrence Pilots, enabling a wide range of maneuvers (docking, undocking, transit of the Traverse du Nord) and weather conditions (wind speed and direction, current strength) to be studied.

TERMPOL CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

After scrutinizing all maritime transportation aspects of the Rabaska project over more than two and a half years, TERMPOL Review Committee (TRC) specialists concluded that LNG tankers could safely navigate the St. Lawrence River without the need for special safety precautions. They said LNG-carrier security and safety was already sufficiently regulated by existing measures. Their concrete and detailed recommendations seek to ensure and improve navigational safety. TRC members also noted that tankers have a very good safety track record.

Rules proposed by Rabaska and retained by TRC include:

• One-way passage at the Île-aux-Coudres turn
• One-way passage of Traverse du Nord for incoming tankers accompanied by a tug escort
• Keel clearance 0.5 m in excess of Canadian Coast Guard requirements
• A definition of “operational limits” based on the limiting wind speed, wave, and visibility conditions in which operations are possible (transit of the Traverse du Nord, maneuvers and unloading)
• Presence of a pilot on board while the tanker is upstream from Les Escoumins, including during unloading

A docking pilot and tugs will take charge of the tanker before it reaches the Hydro-Québec high tension lines for arrival and departure maneuvers. The docking pilot will remain on board and a standby tug will be stationed close at hand during the entire time the tanker is berthed. Four tugs will be used for docking maneuvers (including the escort tug) and two or three for undocking. The maneuvering area is at least 850 m wide between the 15 m isobaths and extends along the river from the Hydro-Québec high tension lines to an area east of Pointe de la Martinière, thereby allowing the tanker to reach the clear channel before swinging around.

In addition, during winter, an ice advisor will board the tanker in Canadian waters to guide it through the ice downstream from Les Escoumins.

INTEGRATION INTO EXISTING TRAFFIC

The 120 annual tanker voyages, (60 return trips) will lead to a slight increase in merchant ship traffic on the river, which currently stands at around 5,000 one-way trips per year. Traffic density is very low due to the size of the zone in question (over 1,000 km) and the number of ships under sail at any given time. Statistically, tankers can be expected to meet another ship once every two hours or so during their sojourn in the St. Lawrence Estuary.

Marine traffic is constantly monitored by the Coast Guard traffic regulator. Pilots can consult information on vessel location at all times and adjust their course as required, as is the case for all merchant ships.

Under the Canadian modifications to the Collision Regulations, ferries must keep out of the way of power-driven vessels ascending or descending the St. Lawrence River, regardless of the type of vessel.

The Corporation of Lower St. Lawrence Pilots’ Centre de simulation et d’expertise maritime performed an analysis on the integration of LNG tanker traffic into existing traffic flows.

The study was based on real traffic in 2005. For each day of 2005, the study identified possible windows for upstream or downstream passage of a tanker along the river. All conditions for tanker transit were taken into account, including the crossing of the Traverse du Nord.

The study concluded that days when transit toward the terminal was impossible were excessively rare—only two were found in 2005. Days when transit possibilities were limited to a single passage were also rare, with only five. These restrictions, when they occurred, were due to the large number of transits on the days in question and the geographical distribution of the other ships passing. No restrictions on outbound transits (departure from the terminal) were recorded. The study even found that the average number of possible transits per day in both directions was between five and fifteen.

The arrival of an LNG tanker once every six days on the St. Lawrence River will therefore have no impact on commercial shipping traffic, especially since tanker arrivals are planned well in advance.

PLEASURE BOATING AND RABASKA

Pleasure boaters and cruise operators are accustomed to maintaining a certain distance from commercial ships. In this light, Rabaska has suggested keeping a minimum distance of 50 meters from docked tankers and from the berth.  This is also the distance recommended by the TRC.

It is important to note that the channel will remain open at all times to pleasure boats.

Small craft and kayakers will be able to pass under the trestle bridge with caution. A space will be identified in collaboration with the boating community where non-motorized small craft can pass beneath the trestle bridge linking the offshore docking facilities to those on shore. The space between the bridge pilings is approximately 45 meters. As per Transport Canada's recommendations, passage will be possible except when a tanker is docked.

The construction of the project will therefore have little impact on the “Blue Route” project currently being developed by the city of Lévis in cooperation with Fédération québécoise du canot et du kayak.