The first saltie of the season is expected to reach the Twin Ports this afternoon. That will be the earliest arrival for a vessel making a full transit of the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Seaway system.
The 656-foot-long Federal Hunter began her voyage in Rostock, Germany, and discharged 30,000 short tons of calcium ammonium nitrate in Contrecoeur, Quebec, on the way to the Twin Ports, where it will load 16,535 short tons of durum and spring wheat at the CHS grain elevator in Superior. It is expected to leave the Twin Ports late Monday and go to Thunder Bay to top off with 5,000 tons of Canadian spring wheat before sailing across the Atlantic for deliveries in France and the United Kingdom.
The Federal Hunter is operated by the privately owned Fednav Limited, with headquarters in Montreal.
"We are very proud to open the 2013 season for international shipping in Duluth/Superior with the Federal Hunter," Paul Pathy, Fednav president and co-CEO, said in a news release. "We are looking forward to a good season in the Lakes, and particularly in the Twin Ports. Fednav is clearly committed to the Great Lakes-
Seaway System, a system that is a valuable part of the economy for both the U.S. and Canada."
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A sister ship, the Cyprus-flagged Federal Elbe, is expected to reach the Twin Ports over the weekend. The Elbe probably will sit at anchor for a day or two before loading.
The Federal Hunter's arrival is more than a week earlier than last year's first saltie, the Arubaborg, which sailed into port April 6. The previous earliest arrival of an oceangoing ship was April 1, 1995, by the India-flagged L/T Argosy.
