According to a Monday Dec. 12th press release,  Sydney Harbour Investment Partners (SHIP)  has come to an agreement with Ports America for the promotion and development of a proposed deepwater marine container facility in Sydney, NS, to be known as Novaporte.

In 2015, the Cape Breton Regional Municipality gave exclusive rights to SHIP, then known as Harbor Port Development Partners, to promote the development of approximately 2000 acres of land near SydPort for a port, terminal, and logistics facility.

Novaporte intends to build a semi-automated facility designed to accommodate the largest container vessels – 18,000 TEU, which would make it the first and most modern stop on typical liner routes from Europe, in particular.

Construction is predicted to take two years from commencement; the group is seeking investments and volume commitments prior to breaking ground. In addition to lying only 400 km northeast of the Port of Halifax, improvements are presently being made at Saint John, NB, and discussions are also underway in respect of facilities at Churchill, MB (which, if feasible, would provide a much shorter arctic route to central North American rail transport); regional co-operation will be needed to avoid direct competition and cannibalization.