While headlines often focus on global and national economic uncertainty, one of B.C.’s largest industrial projects, the LNG Carrier Reaches Kitimat, quietly reached a major milestone last week — and it passed just off the coast of Haida Gwaii on its way there.
The Maran Gas Roxana, a 300-metre liquefied natural gas (LNG) carrier flying under a Greek flag, arrived in Kitimat after loading earlier this month at a terminal in Queensland, Australia. The LNG carrier reached Kitimat after passing west of Haida Gwaii during its trans-Pacific voyage, continuing through the Dixon Entrance toward Douglas Channel and the North Coast port.
LNG Carrier Reaches Kitimat: A Milestone for B.C.
Its arrival marks the first step in a carefully coordinated process to commission B.C.’s new LNG Canada export terminal in Kitimat — a project more than a decade in the making.
Before exports begin, the terminal’s massive storage tanks must be chilled to –169 C, the temperature at which natural gas becomes a liquid. The cooldown process is expected to take three to four weeks, according to regional reports. Once complete, LNG Canada — now more than 95 per cent finished — will be close to beginning full-scale production, with shipments projected to begin by mid-2025.
Each shipment is valued between $150 million and $220 million. Energy Minister Adrian Dix said exports are expected “every two days or so.”
“This is a very significant opportunity for us to diversify our markets,” Dix said Wednesday. “It couldn’t have come along at a better time.”
The Kitimat terminal will allow B.C. natural gas to reach international markets for the first time, marking a historic shift. Until now, Canadian gas exports have been largely limited to the United States. With global demand for LNG rising, the terminal is expected to become a major revenue stream for the province. B.C. forecasts $3.3 billion in royalties over the next three years.
Though the facility is based in Kitimat, the project’s impacts are felt across the North Coast — from marine traffic and job creation to environmental concerns and Indigenous partnerships.
The HaiSea tug escorting the Maran Gas Roxana through Douglas Channel is itself a symbol of this collaboration. Battery-powered and jointly owned by Seaspan and the Haisla Nation, whose traditional territory includes Kitimat, HaiSea represents a blend of Indigenous-led economic development and modern marine technology.
The LNG Canada project has had a long and often bumpy road. First announced in 2011 by then-premier Christy Clark, the project was a centrepiece of her “debt-free B.C.” campaign. But no projects were underway when her government fell in 2017.
Under Premier John Horgan, the NDP introduced $6 billion in tax and regulatory incentives in 2018, leading Shell and its global partners to approve a final investment decision. The path forward still included resistance — environmental protests, opposition from some Indigenous leaders, and political friction around the Coastal GasLink pipeline, which supplies the terminal.
Key First Nations along the pipeline route signed benefit-sharing agreements, though internal disputes and opposition from hereditary chiefs continued to draw national attention.
LNG Canada has also cleared land for a possible future expansion that would double capacity, pending a final investment decision.
Premier David Eby has called the project “one of the biggest private sector economic projects in Canadian history.” Dix is expected to visit Kitimat after the B.C. legislature adjourns at the end of May, potentially in time for the first outbound shipment.
As the Maran Gas Roxana begins the cooldown process at the Kitimat terminal, it brings with it not just a cargo of liquefied natural gas — but a wave of economic, political and environmental questions that will continue to shape the future of the North Coast.
