IMMEDIATE RELEASE (REVISED FROM APRIL 27)                May 2, 2001

The Dutch-flag vessel Maineborg, presently completing her maiden voyage between Europe and the Great Lakes, is scheduled to arrive in the Port of Duluth-Superior 9 p.m. Thursday, May 3.

Commanded by Captain Hindrik Vanderlaan, Delfzijl, Netherlands, the new ship entered the Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway System mid-April with steel products for Cleveland, Detroit, Burns Harbor, Ind., and Chicago, and then proceeded to Thunder Bay for about 2,800 metric tons of Canadian feed peas for Oristano, Italy.

In Duluth she will call at Superior's Peavey-Connor's Point grain facility for about 5,000 metric tons of sugar beet pellets destined for Oristano, Italy. She is scheduled to depart May 5. Local agent for the vessel is Guthrie-Hubner, Inc.

Delivered March 22 from Shipyard Bijlsma, Netherlands, the 440-foot Maineborg has a nine-member crew from the Netherlands and the Philippines. She employs the latest technology in sonar, radar and computer controls, and is one of several new vessels recently ordered by Wagenborg Shipping, Delfzijl, Netherlands.

The company recently expanded its service into the Western Hemisphere, the Middle East and Asia, with a newbuilding program that includes about 30 vessels in the 9,000-ton range. There are currently 25 of the vessels in service, half of which trade in the Great Lakes.

"Wagenborg vessels currently move about 250,000 tons of cargo to and from the Lakes annually," said Jaap Teekman, director of Wagenborg's chartering department. "When the newbuilding program tops out at 30 ships, that total is projected to increase commensurately to 300,000 tons a year."

The Port of Duluth-Superior was the second most called upon U.S. port (behind Philadelphia) by Wagenborg vessels with 18 visits in 2000.
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CONTACT: Lisa Marciniak, Port Promotion Manager, 218-727-8525

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