IMMEDIATE RELEASE            March 29, 2003

NOTE: The shipboard arrival ceremony will be held at 2 p.m. today (March 29) onboard the Frontenac at the Murphy Oil USA, Inc., Duluth Marine Terminal, 1400 Port Terminal Drive.

The Port of Duluth-Superior’s 2003 Great Lakes commercial navigation officially opened at noon today (March 29) with the arrival of Canada Steamship Lines’ Frontenac under the Duluth Aerial Lift Bridge.

The Frontenac proceeded to the Murphy Oil USA, Inc., Duluth Marine Terminal to fuel, then will shift to Duluth’s Hallett Dock No. 5 to discharge 3,500 metric tons of salt before shifting to Duluth’s C. Reiss Terminal to unload an additional 15,500 tons of salt. The vessel is scheduled to move again at approximately 1 a.m. Monday (March 31) to Superior’s Burlington Northern Santa Fe taconite facility for about 24,390 metric tons of iron ore pellets for Hamilton, Ont.
Another vessel bound for the Twin Ports, Upper Lakes Towing Company’s barge Joseph H. Thompson powered by its tug Joseph H. Thompson Jr., was the first upbound passage through the locks at Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., at about 11:15 p.m. Thursday (March 27), followed closely by the Frontenac. The locks opened to vessel traffic 12:01 a.m. March 25, but saw only downbound vessel traffic during the first few days of operation.

Early-season laker traffic is being hampered by severe ice conditions in several Great Lakes locations. Both the Joseph H. Thompson and the Frontenac were assisted on Lake Superior by U.S. Coast Guard Icebreaker Mackinaw, with the Frontenac pulling ahead of the Joseph H. Thompson once the vessels were underway.

The official start to the Port’s season is marked by the first inbound ship from the Soo Locks, and first Soo transit arrivals for the past five years have been on March 26. Last year’s first arrival occurred on that date when Interlake Steamship Company’s Mesabi Miner visited Superior’s Midwest Energy Resources Co. coal facility.

Ships were on the move in the Twin Ports by March 23 this year with the departure of three Great Lakes Fleet vessels—the Edgar B. Speer, Roger Blough and Edwin H. Gott—each of which had wintered here and were traveling to Two Harbors to load iron ore pellets destined for Gary, Ind. The Fleet’s Presque Isle departed March 24, also for Two Harbors to load iron ore for the same destination. These four vessels were the first downbound traffic at the Soo Locks.

Commanded by John Bentum, the 730-foot bulk carrier Frontenac was built in 1968 at Davie Shipbuilding, Ltd., Lauzon, Levis, Quebec. She wintered in Goderich, Ont., prior to loading salt there for Duluth-Superior. Local agent for the vessel is Duluth’s S.A. McLennan, Inc.

Another welcoming ceremony will be held when the Port’s first 2003 oceangoing vessel arrives, which will also qualify a winner for the "First Ship Contest" sponsored by the Duluth Seaway Port Authority, the Duluth Convention and Visitors Bureau and 92 KQRS, Minneapolis.

U.S. and Canadian Seaway officials delayed the opening of the Welland Canal and Montreal-Lake Ontario sections of the system from March 25 until March 31 due to the harsh ice conditions.

The April 2 arrival of the Norwegian-flagged Menominee at Duluth’s Clure Public Marine Terminal marked last year’s first full Seaway transit and overseas arrival. Oceangoing vessel arrivals for the past five years have been between April 2 and April 8.

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Contact: Lisa Marciniak, Port Promotion Manager, 218-727-8525, cell phone 218-390-6973

More Press Releases, 2003