Roberts Bank Superport

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 Terminal container facility.

Background
Both terminals export coal to Asian buyers. As of 2011 Canada was the world’s seventh-biggest coal exporter.

Port history
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 Terminal, 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 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 Canadian National Railway, Canadian Pacific Railway and BNSF Railway. Seaspan International provides tugboat services to both terminals at Roberts Bank.

Westshore Terminals
Westshore Terminals is a coal export terminal located at Roberts Bank Superport, Delta British Columbia, 32 kilometers south of downtown Vancouver. It was built in 1970, and as of 2010 had a capacity of 29 million tonnes per year. It is Canada’s largest coal export facility, surpassing the combined coal shipments of all other terminals in Canada. Westshore is also the largest single export coal terminal in all of North America, routinely shipping about 21 million tonnes of coal each year. U.S. Shipments reached a record 2 million tonnes in 2009.

The Westshore Terminals Limited Partnership is owned by Westshore Terminals Investment Corporation, through its wholly-owned subsidiary Westshore Terminals Holdings Ltd. Westar Management Ltd. has a long-term, renewable contract to operate and manage the terminal.

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