At 12:12 p.m. on Monday, the bulk carrier, Captain Henry Jackman, crossed the harbour breakwall and arrived in the Port of Thunder Bay, kicking off the 2025 navigation season.
Docked at the Richardson International’s Main Elevator, the ship is taking on a load of
Canadian grain as its captain and crew celebrated a top hat ceremony with Mayor Ken Boshcoff and representatives from the Port of Thunder Bay.
Chris Heikkinen, the port’s chief executive officer, said the arrival marks an earlier-than-usual opening to the shipping season.
“The Soo Locks, which typically open on March 25, instead opened on Friday, March 21, enabling ships access to and from Lake Superior,” Heikkinen said.
The ship’s captain, Aaron Brunelle, and chief engineer David Michalowicz, were presented with the traditional top hat by port board member John Henderson, and Boshcoff offered welcoming wishes.
The top hat ceremonies, which are held for each of the year’s first arriving laker and ocean vessel, emphasize the importance of marine shipping and the impact of the port on the local economy.
“Globally, an overwhelming majority of goods are transported by ship, with volumes rising annually,” Heikkinen said.
“The continued and growing use of our Thunder Bay port demonstrates its importance and its viability. The reliability of our port in our system speaks for its future.”
This year, the port is involved in a large capital investment program to develop a new laydown area at Keefer Terminal to increase capacity to handle breakbulk commodities like steel and project cargo. Heikkinen called volumes of key cargoes handled at the port at the end of the shipping season in 2024 “modern records” helped by inbound and outbound potash and phosphate fertilizer.
“It’s a record that in this generation we haven’t seen in decades,” Heikkinen said. “A significant rise in potash volumes shipped from the port’s dry bulk terminals nearly doubled in tonnage from the same month last year.”
