THUNDER BAY – The 2026 shipping season is officially underway at the Port of Thunder Bay as the MV Kathy McKeil passed the breakwall at 3:23 p.m. on March 26.
On Friday morning, Capt. Adam Barnes and chief engineer Matthew Rankine were named as Top Hat Award winners, continuing a long-standing maritime tradition.
“We got into the river first. The first vessel coming up to Thunder Bay. I was keeping a good eye on the traffic, so we wanted to make sure we were first. So, it was competitive, I guess, is a good word for saying it, but all in good spirits,” Barnes told Newswatch.
Barnes said the ship had a little delay in the St. Mary’s River as ice conditions made it challenging to manoeuvre around corners. Once the Kathy McKeil cleared the river into Lake Superior, it was a smoother voyage.
“Around Whitefish Bay, there’s a bit of ice, but the wind conditions actually were pushing it away from land when we came. We had a bit of clear tracks on the way up, wasn’t too bad,” Barners said.
Kathy McKeil was the last laker ship to leave the port at the end of the 2025 shipping season at the beginning of January.
The Kathy McKeil’s crew of 15 is on a steady run from Windsor to Thunder Bay and back. In its return trip, Barnes said, the vessel will be transporting canola.
The purpose of the top hat ceremony signifies the start of a new shipping season in Thunder Bay, but also honours the ship, and the shipping company – McKeil Marine Limited – for leading the way into the season, according to Chris Heikkinen, chief executive officer of the Thunder Bay Port Authority.
“It signifies to the community that the shipping season is open, and it’s a sign of spring and revitalization in the harbour,” he said.
The Port of Thunder Bay handles a diverse range of cargoes, playing a role in the regional and national economy.
Despite the cold weather and snow, Heikkinen says they’re confident this year’s shipping season will be prosperous.
“Last year was a great shipping season. We topped 10 million tons of cargo in the port, and we’re certainly hopeful for that again in 2026. We had three vessels arrive yesterday to start the season, which is very encouraging, and we’ve got a nice lineup of vessels coming in the next several weeks,” he said.
The top hat ceremony continues to draw community leaders and port officials together each year, serving as a reminder that as the ice clears, business and opportunity return to the waterfront.
“I think for our community it means that people recognize how important the seaway is, how environmentally fantastic it is, and how many emissions that it’s saving by having a vessel come to the greatest city on the greatest freshwater lake in the world. We’ve got a lot to be grateful for, and the amount of people that are employed here, it sets its own standards, so we’re blessed living in Thunder Bay,” Mayor Ken Boshcoff said.
