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Vessel Calls: Duluth, Sept-Îles

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The last oceangoing vessel to call on the Port of Duluth-Superior for the 2013 shipping season departed the port on December 19. The Port of Sept-Îles is proud to have hosted the largest amount of bulk cargo ever loaded onto a ship in North American maritime history.

Last ‘Saltie’ of 2013 Shipping Season Departs Port of Duluth-Superior

The last ocean-going vessel to call on the Port of Duluth-Superior for the 2013 shipping season departed the port on December 19. While in port, the Orsula loaded a total of nearly 22,000 metric tons (24,250 short tons) of durum wheat at the CHS and Gavilon grain terminals in Superior. Bound for Italy, the Orsula will be the last saltie to make a full transit this season of the 2,340-mile Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Seaway system. 

The 200-meter (656-ft) Orsula, flagged in the Marshall Islands, is operated by Fednav Limited, the largest dry-bulk shipping company in Canada. Based in Montreal, Fednav also had the honor of hosting the 2013 season’s first ship ceremony here in the Twin Ports aboard its Federal Hunter. 

The Orsula is the last saltie to make a full transit of the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Seaway system this year.
Photo by Robert Welton 

Port of Sept-Îles Hosts an All-Time Record in North American Maritime History

The Port of Sept-Îles is proud to have hosted the largest amount of bulk cargo ever loaded onto a ship in North American maritime history. At 6:30 a.m. on Sunday, December 15, an enormous iron ore cargo of 302,264 metric tons from the Bloom Lake mine, owned by Cliffs Natural Resources, left aboard the CSB Years to make its first delivery. The iron ore was transshipped in the bay of Sept-Îles with the assistance of the CSL Spirit self-unloader vessel.

The CSB Years is the first ocean-going giant of the Chinamax generation to come to North America and more specifically, to the deep sea Port of Sept-Îles. It will take nearly 57 days to reach its destination in China and deliver its cargo to Cliffs’ partner, Wuhan Iron and Steel Company (WISCO).

This historic record shatters the old record set in the Port of Sept-Îles 20 years ago on October 16, 1993, when 255,653 metric tons of iron ore were loaded aboard the Athesis Ore.

This cargo is worth over $40 million and contains enough iron ore to produce the equivalent of 6 Champlain bridges (Montreal, Quebec) or 200,000 cars, which would stretch 1,200 kilometers if they were placed end to end.

"This new milestone puts the Port of Sept-Îles at a turning point in its history. Chinamax bulk carriers are the way of the future for large iron ore producers because of their operational efficiency and load capacity, which together, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and the number and frequency of ships that anchor in the bay," said Pierre D. Gagnon, president and chief executive officer of the Port of Sept-Îles.
 

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