Records: Georgia, Montreal, Windsor

Soaring ro/ro and agribulk volumes spurred a 47 percent jump in cargo tonnage at the Georgia Ports Authority’s terminals in the Port of Brunswick during the fiscal year ending June 30, 2013.

Shipments of autos and machinery handled at GPA facilities hit a record high for the second year in a row – 636,942 units, up 11.7 percent from FY 2011-2012. Most of that business – 622,702 units – moved through the Colonel’s Island terminal in Brunswick.

"Brunswick has seen phenomenal growth this year as the automobile industry rebounds and sales increase," said GPA Executive Director Curtis Foltz.

The GPA says the FY 2013 volume upsurge was in part due to new customers such as Subaru and Toyota. Additionally, heavy machinery exports by companies like Caterpillar, contributed to a 127,830-ton increase in breakbulk tonnage (to a total of 1.2 million tons) at Colonel’s Island.

Bulk cargo shipments at the GPA’s East River Terminal in Brunswick increased 23 percent to 815,337 tons, due in part to the growth of its biofuels trade, including wood pellets. For Colonel’s Island, it was also a banner year for agribulks – 941,165 tons of soybean meal and corn, or nearly five times the 195,306 tons handled in FY 2012.

Overall, the GPA moved some 1.75 million tons of bulk cargo through Brunswick in FY2013, more than double the prior year’s 858,747 tons.

Three ro/ro vessels carrying autos and heavy machinery at Colonels Island Terminal in Brunswick on Aug. 7, 2013.

AIDAbella became the largest cruise ship to call the Port of Montreal when it docked at the port authority’s Iberville Passenger Terminal in the morning of October 2. It remained two days in Montreal before departing on the return voyage to New York.

Built in Germany and delivered in 2005, the 69,203 gross ton AIDAbella is 253meters/826 feet long, can accommodate 2,500 passengers and is operated by AIDA Cruise Lines, a Carnival Corporation brand company with a mostly German-speaking clientele.

September and October are Montreal’s peak cruise months, a time when thousands of tourists are attracted by Quebec’s brilliantly colorful fall foliage. Between October 2 and October 5 alone the post hosted three cruise ships in addition to AIDAbella: Seven Seas Navigator (500 passengers), Crystal Symphony (960 passengers) and regular caller Maasdam (1,266 passengers).

During the 2012 season, Montreal welcomed nearly 70,000 cruise passengers and crew members, a 74 percent jump from the previous year that the port authority says was in great part due to the efforts of the Montreal Cruise Committee.

Created in 2011 by the port authority and Tourism Montreal, the committee also includes Aéroports de Montréal, Casino de Montréal, Old Port of Montreal Corporation, Old Montreal Business Development Corporation, Hotel Association of Greater Montreal and the City of Montreal. The Cruise Committee’s website at http://cruises.alamontreal.com showcases Montreal as a cruise stopover.

Business is booming at the Port of Windsor and could surpass the record 5.8 million metric tons set in 2006, thanks in part to a surge in liquid asphalt shipments through the recently expanded Sterling Marine Fuels Terminals. That is according to an article in The Windsor Star, which further notes that a local highway construction project is drawing record volumes of concrete aggregates through the port’s Lafarge Canada Terminal.

Still another boost has come from grain traffic, reflecting increased canola deliveries to ADM Industries and soy bean exports to overseas markets.

Overall, the data cited by the newspaper article, point to tonnage increases thus far this season of 52 percent for liquid asphalt, 38 percent for construction aggregates, and 45 percent for grain. Cargo shipments through mid-September, according to the newspaper, totaled 3.3 million tons, an increase from last year of 9.9 percent.

"We're having a terrific year and it could be even better next year," said Port Authority CEO David Cree, PPM®, told the paper. "We're on a pace to exceed 6 million tons, which would give us a record if we continue at this rate."