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DULUTH — The last ocean-going ship, or "saltie," of the 2022 shipping season passed under the Aerial Lift Bridge just after 6 p.m. Tuesday.
The 624-foot-long Federal Kushiro , which flies under the Marshall Islands flag and is owned by FedNav of Canada, will be loaded with approximately 23,000 short tons of wheat at Duluth's Ceres-Riverland Ag grain terminal before departing for Italy, according to Jayson Hron, spokesperson for the Duluth Seaway Port Authority.
Hron said the ship is expected to leave Duluth on Thursday, Dec. 22.
The latest departure of a saltie from the port was in 1984 when the Federal Calumet, another Fednav ship, left for France on Dec. 23.
The Federal Kushiro needs to get through the St. Lawrence Seaway System before it closes next week.
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All ships need to be clear of the Seaway, which connects the Great Lakes to the Atlantic Ocean, by noon Eastern Standard Time on Dec. 31. The Seaway typically reopens in late March.
The Soo Locks, which connect Lake Superior to Lake Huron and the rest of the Great Lakes at Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, are scheduled to close Jan. 15 and will reopen March 25.
This story originally listed the incorrect final saltie departure date. It was updated at 3:07 p.m. Dec. 22. The latest a saltie left the port was Dec. 23. The News Tribune regrets the error.
