The recent delivery of 781 new VinFast electric vehicles from Vietnam to the Port of Nanaimo has built on the facility’s efforts to expand and diversify its presence on the east coast of Vancouver Island.
In 2019, a new vehicle-processing facility opened at the port to support European vehicle imports, which continue today. The first shipment of SUVs from Asia arrived mid-March from VinFast, a member of the Vin Group, a company focused on technology, industry and services.
No firm commitment has been made to receive additional VinFast vehicles, Ian Marr, the Port of Nanaimo president and chief executive, said.
But, obviously, if things go well for them, we’ll be the port of choice.” Nguyen Thi Van Anh, chief executive of VinFast North America, said in a statement he expects the vehicles will gain support from Canadian customers. Deliveries to customers start this month.
The VF 8 Eco is listed in Canada from $53,600 and its Plus 260 kW starts at $59,200.
Nanaimo’s port and its private and government partners have spent on developing shipping infrastructure.
“We have also spent a considerable amount of time with government and private industry partners to increase awareness for Nanaimo’s shipping terminals capabilities, land capacity, and short sea shipping capabilities into Vancouver,” Marr said.
The VinFast shipment is a reflection of those efforts, he said.
New vehicle shipments of other makes of vehicles include one with 1,400 vehicles, another with 800 and a third was close to 1,200, Marr said.
“We are looking at another 600 coming in, in a couple of weeks. There’s a lot of demand for the facility right now.”
Worker numbers fluctuate depending on what’s happening at the port.
On Thursday, about 40 to 50 workers were at the port’s downtown Nanaimo site, where they will be working for about a week loading logs onto a carrier heading to Asia.
“That’s been consistent business over the last few years,” Marr said.
Marr said in the port’s new 2022 annual report that it is returning to volumes at pre-pandemic levels. It is focusing on short sea shipping, referring to the movement of vessels to nearby locations, such as elsewhere on Vancouver Island and Vancouver.
With assets of more than $45 million in downtown Nanaimo and at Duke Point, the agency pulled in $5.3 million in operations revenue and $4.9 million in lease revenue, according to its 2022 financial statement.
“We are very happy with the way business has come back,” Marr said.
The port is looking forward to August when two catamaran ferries are anticipated to begin foot-passenger service between downtown Nanaimo and downtown Vancouver. They will be based at Nanaimo and the plan is to run several sailings per day.
