Long Pond’s new skipper sees expansion on horizon

By Craig Westcott/April 6, 2023

Capt. Mark Turner has taken on some interesting jobs over the years. The former chairman of what was then called the Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Industries Association (NOIA) headed a provincial review of oil spill response capability and prevention in 2010, and served as a consultant and senior manager on an assortment of marine and oil and gas projects. Now he’s the new CEO of the Long Pond Harbour Authority, a job that will see him oversee a taxpayer-owned facility that caters to a range of industrial users.

Turner comes to the role after unsuccessfully trying his hand at retirement after spending the last 10 years mostly in British Columbia, where his last job saw him acting as the senior marine advisor on the Shell Global LNG gas project in Kittimat. That’s a $40 billion liquefication plant with associated drilling and a pipeline, making it the largest private sector investment in Canada. Construction started five years ago and is due to be completed within the next couple of years with most of the gas going to Asia. 

Turner worked for LNG Canada, a Shell subsidiary until he hit retirement age and returned to Newfoundland. 

“Then I saw this opportunity and I said, ‘Well, I’m not one to retire,’ so I decided to put my interest towards something else,” said Turner, 67.

Turner’s interest has certainly been piqued. He almost sounds like a young business school grad tackling his first big management assignment. But he’s been around the horn enough times to know that as a taxpayer-owned entity, he has to strike a balance between public accountability and industry service. The Authority has been owned by the Town of Conception Bay South since the federal government of Stephen Harper divested itself of Long Pond in 2014.

Among the port’s users are Trinity Performance Minerals, Cougar Helicopters, Country Ribbon Chicken, Suncor Energy and the Woodward Group.

“We currently service quite a suite of services here,” said Turner. “We have storage facilities, transport facilities, heavy lift cranes, we have a lot of ships coming in, we have oil distribution here through pipelines, agriculture, mining, chickenfeed for Country Ribbon, we have Trinity, we have Woodward’s Oil. There’s quite a bit of activity here now and what we’re trying to do is actually expand on that and put together a strategic plan to help us grow the port more. And maybe with a higher emphasis on the oil and gas industry… Oil and gas is still going to be an active industry here within the province. But we’re also interested in green energy as well. So, we’re looking at adding to the infrastructure here in the port, the physical assets, as well as attracting new customers. The market is getting bigger, and the province has a lot of offer. This port is very, very strategically located and now it’s time to grow, spend some money, get some development, new infrastructure and attract new clients, such as the oil and gas industry.”

Turner noted with the Terra Nova FPSO anchored in the bay, its service vessels have been making use of the port as they ferry cargo, water and fuel to the vessel. With the Bay du Nord oil development “on the horizon,” Suncor returning to the Terra Nova field and the other ongoing production in the Jeanne D’Arc basin, he hopes to see more work coming to Long Pond.

Turner said the port’s infrastructure is in excellent shape, and there is room to grow.

“That’s why I’m here,” he said. “I’m looking at that. Yes, we have room to grow. We have land available to us now. We can expand the port by going out into the bay. We have some capability to do something within the port, some dredging, and create some additional wharfage. We’re looking at doing some shore power for vessels to eliminate emissions while they’re in port tied up… We just want to look at the further growth potential and expansion and I think we’ll do that over time. Unfortunately, it does take time, but we have potential here.”

Any expansion though will cost money. 

“That’s the other thing,” Turner admitted. “We do have some money here, but we also have to look at investors as well.”

He counts the federal and provincial governments as potential investors, as well as the port’s industrial users. Turner said the corporation won’t have to relinguish any ownership of the port by taking on private investors.

“If we’re looking at our industrial clients, say for example the offshore (oil) industry, they wouldn’t have ownership, but they would be guaranteed continued, long tern use as a supply base here at the port, and we would make room for them of course. So, there is potential for that… This is for long term business development, and we’re looking at tapping on all the doors.”

Turner reckoned some 50 people work at the port at any one time at everything from offloading vessels, to providing dockside services, to operations at the helipad.

One thing that is not in operation just yet is the construction of the Ocean Choice International cold storage plant and expansion of the wharf into the harbour, a proposal that caused a ruckus with some people living near the port last year. OCI was given the green light by council to move ahead on the project, but its status is unclear. Turner said he has contacted OCI’s management and has arranged a meeting to get an update on their “intentions.”

Turner allowed the port is much busier than people realize.

“When I came back, I couldn’t believe how much CBS has grown since I was young,” he said. “I used to trout out here. And when I first came down (to see the port) I said, ‘Wow, it’s a jewel in the crown’ basically. It’s been underutilized and it has been for many years and it’s time now to revitalize the port, help it grow, do it up, attract new clients… And we have a fantastic highway system here to St. John’s. It’s a very benign port as far as weather is concerned. So, it’s got a lot of great benefits there, it’s just that it’s not been recognized by a lot of potential users.”

Turner said the Harbour Authority and the Town work hand in hand. “It’s a great partnership. We pay taxes to the Town, and the Town helps us out in many, many ways, because they benefit from the port as well.

In all, Turner sounds like a fellow happy to have escaped retirement. “It’s a challenge, and it’s a great place to work,” he said. “I’m looking forward to a prosperous future here in the port.”