Roberts Bank Superport

Location of Roberts Bank Superport in the Greater Vancouver Regional District

Roberts Bank Superport is 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 Deltaport container facility.

Part of Port Metro 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.

TSI Terminal Systems Inc. operates Deltaport, the largest container terminal in Canada, as well as another terminal in the Inner Harbour of the Vancouver Port known as Vanterm on Burrard Inlet.

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.

Deltaport's container facility is designed to handle the largest container ships afloat and features Super Post-Panamax container cranes. The container facility completed a $400-million expansion in late 2009, adding a third berth and doubling its capacity to 1.8 million TEU (20-foot equivalent units).

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

References

• "Roberts Bank (port)". BC Geographical Names. http://apps.gov.bc.ca/pub/bcgnws/names/51022.html. 

External links

• TSI Terminal Systems Inc., operators of the Port of Vancouver's Deltaport, under a long-term lease agreement.

• The Canadian Encyclopedia entry for Delta, British Columbia

• Westshore Terminals Limited Partnership

Coordinates: 49°01′10″N 123°09′38″W / 49.01944°N 123.16056°W / 49.01944; -123.16056