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Transitions: Montreal, Sept-Iles

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Montreal Honors First Ship of 2015 with Gold-Headed Cane Presentation Ceremony

Montreal Port Authority President and CEO Sylvie Vachon officially inaugurated the start of a new year of activity at the Port of Montreal on January 5 by presenting the Gold-Headed Cane to Captain Anuj Kararia, master of the Valencia Express, the first ocean-going vessel to enter the Port of Montreal without a stopover in 2015.

The Valencia Express left the Port of Lisbon in Portugal, on December 22. It crossed the Port of Montreal’s limits on January 1 at 00:06 a.m. Her arrival underlines the fact that the Port of Montreal is open year-round to all ocean-going vessels.

The 216-meter/709-foot long, 2,400 TEU capacity Hapag-Lloyd container ship docked at Berth 59. The terminal is operated by Montreal Gateway Terminals Partnership.

Preliminary data indicate that cargo traffic at the Port of Montreal reached a record high in 2014 of more than 30 million metric tons, an increase of nearly 7 percent from 2013. It was a good year, too, for the port’s cruise trade, with more than 70,000 passengers and crew members sailing into Montreal, up 2 percent from the prior year.

Sept-Îles Welcomes First Ship of the Year


M/V Cape Nelson at La Relance Terminal on January 4.
Photo/Sept-Iles Port Authority

M/V Cape Nelson was the first ship to visit the Port of Sept-Îles in 2015. Inbound from Imbituba, Brazil, with 14,328 metric tons of petroleum coke for delivery to Aluminerie Alouette, the Chinese-flag bulk carrier entered Sept-Iles harbor at 9:25 a.m., on Sunday, January 4, and departed three days later bounded for an overseas port.

During a short ceremony, the port’s harbor master, Shawn Grant, presented Captain Jin Qiu Ze, with the cane bearing the Port of Sept-Îles insignia.

This tradition, now in its 28th year, marks the arrival of the first ship of the year to call the port. To be eligible, the vessel must come directly from a foreign port and be bound for a destination outside the country without making any other calls at a Canadian port.

Cane presentation ceremony with Captain Jin Qiu Ze of M/V Cape Nelson and Shawn Grant, harbor master of the Port of Sept-Îles.
Photo/Sept-Îles Port Authority
 

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