ISIP ENGLISH CONVERSATION CIRCLE BURNABY/NEW WESTMINSTER
Everything we use, eat, buy and see on a daily basis comes from somewhere. Some things are made locally but the majority of items we see around us were made in a different country and somehow made its way to our living room or closet. And so this July we explored the role and duty of the Port of Vancouver.
Upon arriving at the port, our host introduced us to the port’s major objectives and overall features. Some of the highlights included learning about Vancouver’s port being a unique location, a very large harbour in extremely deep waters (located in Burrard inlet), which allows for extremely large vessels to bring in products as well as passengers very close into the city. We also learned about the installation of ‘shore power’ for cruise and container ships. Shore power allows cruise ships to plug into the land-based electrical power grid and shut off their diesel generators, thereby reducing noise and emissions. Vancouver’s port was the first one in Canada and third in the world to provide such opportunities for vessels. More features of the fieldtrip included learning about all sorts of vessels like a ‘RoRo’ (a container ship transporting vehicles that can roll on and roll off) and finally our host turned the oversized benches we sat on into interactive screens to try our knowledge and find out more interesting facts about the Port of Vancouver. Thank you to the Port of Vancouver for a memorable experience!