M.V. Captain Henry Jackman docked at the Main Elevator at Richardson International - (CJ Goater/Acadia Broadcasting)
The shipping season is officially underway at the Port of Thunder Bay.
The first ship of the season, the M.V. Captain Henry Jackman, arrived in Thunder Bay on Monday, docking at the Main Elevator at Richardson International.
The ship could have arrived a day earlier but it was delayed due to ice around the port.
“The weather was okay, we had nice, calm seas,” said Captain Aaron Brunelle. “We had a bit of ice in the river, but nothing too serious and most of the ice was actually in the harbor here when we arrived, so that’s why we sat at anchor for the day.”
The ship made a three-day voyage coming from Sarnia.
The ship with a crew of 18 is picking up grain.
It was an early start to the shipping season due to the Soo Locks opening a few days early.
Overall even without the locks opening early, the season has been expanding.
” (Last) season we closed mid January and here we are just over two months later starting back up,” said CEO Chris Heikkinen. “So it really is a quick turn around and actually the seasons have been getting longer in the last few years and even this year, the date that we’re having this ceremony is a couple days earlier than we would typically see.”
Heikkinen highlighted climate conditions and the efficiency of the lock systems’ winter maintenance programs as reasons why.
It was a new first ship of the season after the M.V. Harvest Spirit arrived first in 2024 and 2023.
An annual Top Hat Ceremony was held to mark the arrival of the first domestic ship in port for the year.
“Well, it’s a great event, it’s really a symbolic event because it represents sort of the reopening of the of the port and the resurgence of the economy in the harbor here in Thunder Bay, the port represents a lot of jobs for the community, but it also represents so much more,” said Heikkinen. “It’s a vital transportation route for Canada to get its its products to international markets and to also to bring in products from international markets.”
Captain Aaron Brunelle and Chief Engineer David Michalowicz represented the ship at the ceremony.
The hope from the port is that this will kick off another strong shipping season.
“Last year was a tremendous season about 12 per cent growth overall year over year in 2024 we had our highest volume of cargo moved through this port in over 20 years and right now indications are are that we’re expecting to see similar volumes to last year, no slowdown in the grain movement and good potash volumes anticipated as well,” added Heikkinen.
“All signs point to good things for the port in terms of cargo volumes and cargo diversity. For 2025, we’re looking at similar, if not higher grain volumes. I’m hearing positive things about the anticipated volumes for this year, so it’s it’s likely going to be a successful another successful season in in Thunder Bay in 2025.”
Another Top Hat Ceremony will be held when the first international vessel arrives.
