IMMEDIATE RELEASE             July 12, 2003

Duluth, Minn., U.S.A.—The first of three new vessels operated by Canfornav and designated specifically for Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Seaway trade made its inaugural visit to the Port of Duluth-Superior on Sunday (July 13), the Duluth Seaway Port Authority reported.

The Antigua-flag Puffin owned by Harren & Partner of Bremen, Germany, arrived under the Duluth Aerial Lift Bridge at 4:35 a.m., then proceeded to Superior’s Cenex Harvest States facility for about 9,000 metric tons of wheat destined for Venezuela.

The Puffin is named after the Atlantic Puffin, a small, pigeon-sized seabird which colonizes on northern seacoasts and lives on the open ocean throughout the majority of the year.

The 37,461-DWT vessel is one of three Lakes fitted vessels ordered by Canfornav from a Shanghai shipyard in April 2003. Sister-ship Pochard (named after a duck from Europe and Asia which has gray and black plumage and a reddish head) is due in July 2003, and a third yet-to-be-named vessel will enter service in October 2003.

Canfornav Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Canadian Forest Navigation Co., Ltd., Montreal, is presently in the midst of another newbuilding program consisting of additional vessels designed specifically for Great Lakes-Seaway trade and named after ducks. These 27,000-DWT bulk vessels were ordered from the Wuhu Shipyard in China, with the Bluewing making her maiden voyage in February 2002, and sister-ship Greenwing being delivered in June of that year. The Cinnamon entered service in January 2003, and the Mandarin is scheduled for delivery in mid-August 2003.

By the end of 2004, Canfornav, which took over operations from its parent company in 2000, expects to have in place a fleet of 13 new ships in addition to the 25 handy size vessels already under charter for Great Lakes service, ranking the company as one of the largest carriers on the Great Lakes.

Commanded by Capt. Cezary Lucywek from Poland, the Puffin is crewed by Ukranian officers and seamen. Local agent for the vessel is Duluth’s Guthrie-Hubner, Inc.

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CONTACT: Lisa Marciniak, Port Promotion Manager, phone 218-727-8525
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