One of six newly-built bulk carriers in the Fednav fleet, the Federal Bering is making its first full transit of the Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway system this week en route to the Port of Duluth-Superior. (PHOTO: Gilles Savoie via Duluth Seaway Port Authority)
The last international grain ship of 2015 will arrive at the Port of Duluth, Minnesota, Sunday night or early Monday morning, according to officials with the Duluth Seaway Port Authority.
UPDATE: Due to high winds, the Federal Bering was forced to take shelter near the Apostle Islands. It is now expected Tuesday morning.
The Federal Bering is part of the Canadian company Fednav’s international fleet. This ship is brand new, built in Japan, and will be making its first-ever appearance at the Zenith City of the Unsalted Seas. After loading 21,000 metric tons of wheat and canola early this week, the Federal Bearing will depart sometime midweek depending on weather conditions. It will bring the grain to the east coast of Mexico via the Atlantic Ocean.
Other ships will leave the port before Lake Superior shipping traffic is halted for winter, but this will be the last one hauling grain. Oil, goods, and iron ore are the other chief cargo in the Port of Duluth, which serves domestic shipping along the Great Lakes chain and international concerns all over the world. Duluth might not be the biggest international port in the world, but it is located the furthest inland.
According to Fednav:
Like her fleetmates – the Federal Baltic, Federal Beaufort, Federal Barents, Federal Bristol and Federal Biscay – the Federal Bering was built by Oshima Shipbuilding in Japan. All six sister ships are 199.98 meters (656 feet) in length and have a beam of 23.76 meters (77.9 feet); each was built with four deck cranes and four “box” holds for greater flexibility. These environmentally advanced vessels consume 28% less fuel and produce 28% less emissions than similar ships built for the company just ten years ago; their fuel-efficient engines will also reduce nitrogen oxide emissions by over 30%. All six new-builds were delivered between May and November 2015, as part of a series of 27 new ships added to Fednav’s fleet in the past four years, 14 of which are committed to Great Lakes-Seaway service.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Coast Guard has held the Cornelia, a Liberian-flagged, German-owned ship in the Port of Duluth for more than a month. The Cornelia is under investigation for discharging oily water somewhere else. It’s entirely possible that this ship will end up with a less ceremonious distinction of “last ship out” before the late December deadline.
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