Hamilton’s HOPA, Burlington’s Thordon up for international shipping awards

Hamilton-Oshawa Port Authority (HOPA) is up for three awards and Burlington’s Thordon Bearings two at the prestigious International Bulk Journal (IBJ)’s ‘Night of the Year’ event in London, England tonight.

HOPA, which handles shipping at Hamilton – Canada’s busiest Great Lake port – as well as Oshawa has been shortlisted for the Bulk Logistics Excellence Award, Customer Care Award (cargo handling category) and for the Best Dry Bulk Port.

A brief statement from HOPA would simply say they were “thrilled” to be nominated for the IBJ Awards, which salute excellence in the maritime bulk industry.

HOPA is up against five other harbour companies for the Bulk Logistics Award, including Sultran/Pacific Coast Terminals (Port Moody, B.C.); Arise Shipping and Logistics and SAFEEN/AD Ports Group (United Arab Emirates); Morska Agencja (Gdynia, Poland); and Shi.E.L.D. Services (Indonesia/Italy).

For the Customer Care Award (cargo handling), HOPA’s competition is Bruks/Siwertell (Sweden); Buttimer Engineering (Ireland); and Cooper Specialised Handling and PD Ports (United Kingdom)

The Best Dry Bulk Port Award is one of the most anticipated of the gala evening and HOPA will be challenged by North Sea Port (Belgium/Netherlands); the Port of Rotterdam (Netherlands); Port of Port Hedland (Pilbara Ports, Australia); and RAK Ports (United Arab Emirates),

Thordon Bearings, a Burlington marine industrial company which started life in Hamilton more than 100 years ago, is up for two prizes as well: the Innovative Technology Award (marine), with competition from AXS Marine (Singapore), Core Power (United Kingdom), Damen Shipyards (Netherlands) and DNV (Norway); and the Environment Protection Award, where it will be vying for honours with DNV (Norway) – again – Fleet Management (Hong Kong), HullWiper (United Arab Emirates) and Synergy Group (Singapore).

(Thordon famously supplied propeller shaft bearings for 12 RCN frigates in 1992 and water-lubricated propulsion systems for Princess and Disney Cruise liners in 1998.)

One of 12 Royal Canadian Navy frigates outfitted with propeller shaft bearings by Thordon Bearings of Burlington

As well, Logistec, a Montreal-based stevedore company with branches in 60 ports in 90 terminals – including Pier 12 in Hamilton – is up for four awards in London tonight. Logistics was a winner last year in the Safety in Bulk Handling category.

United Arab Emirates companies have been nominated for ten awards.

The IBJ Awards will be held in the nearly 500 year-old Honourable Artillery Company in central London and hosted by British comedian and actor Hugh Dennis.

Headquartered in Wales with roots in Liverpool – historically, one of the world’s great ports – IBJ has been the voice of the maritime bulk industry for 40 years.