IMMEDIATE RELEASE             April 3, 2006

Duluth, Minn., U.S.A.—The Port of Duluth-Superior’s 2006 St. Lawrence Seaway navigation season is scheduled to officially open at approximately 3 a.m. on Tuesday (April 4) with the arrival of the Marshall Islands-flagged Ziemia Cieszynska under the Duluth Aerial Lift Bridge.

(ZEEM-ee-ah Si-ZIN-ska)

The vessel will proceed to Superior’s CHS grain facility for about 18,000 metric tons of durum wheat destined for Italy. It is scheduled to depart by April 6. The vessel first stopped at the Port of Indiana-Burns Harbor to discharge about 8,900 tons of steel coils from the Netherlands.

The winner of the annual “First Ship Contest” sponsored by Visit Duluth, 92 KQRS Minneapolis and the Duluth Seaway Port Authority will be announced during a welcoming ceremony to be held for the Ziemia Cieszynska. The winner will receive a “Visit Duluth” getaway, including hotel accommodations, meals and passes to local attractions.

Commanded by Captain Jan Jarosz from Poland, the 591-foot bulk carrier was built in 1993 and is operated by Szczecin based Polish Steamship Company (Polsteam). Local agent for the vessel is Guthrie-Hubner, Inc.

Polsteam is in the midst of a newbuild program which will eventually involve 34 new vessels at an estimated investment of $700-$800 million. Ten handy-size bulkers have now been ordered from the Xingang Shipyard, China—four of which have been delivered—with the rest scheduled for completion between 2008 and 2009. Six more were recently ordered from the Hantong Shipyard, China. The remainder of the vessels will be invested in over the next 10-15 years.

“We’re always glad to see newbuilds breathing life into the St. Lawrence Seaway system, and using Duluth as a global connection for our regional farmers. Grain exports represent more than 30 percent of the $2 billion worth of cargo transshipped via our Port docks every year,” said Port Director Adolph Ojard.

The Welland Canal section of the St. Lawrence Seaway opened to vessel traffic on March 21, and the Montreal-Lake Ontario section of the Seaway opened March 23. Oceangoing vessel arrivals for the past five years have been between April 2 and April 11. The Port’s earliest oceangoing vessel arrival since the 1959 opening of the St. Lawrence Seaway was April 1, 1995, with the arrival of the Indian vessel LT Argosy.

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Contact: Lisa Marciniak, Port Promotion Manager, phone : 218-727-8525, e-mail: lmarciniak@duluthport.com

More Press Releases, 2006