The Dutch-flagged Albanyborg is due to arrive in the Port of Duluth today, the first ocean-going vessel of the 2016 shipping season. The Albanyborg will be picking up winter wheat and bringing it to Italy. (PHOTO: via Port Authority and FleetMon.com)
Today, the Port of Duluth welcomes its first ocean-going vessel of the 2016 shipping season. The Dutch-flagged Albanyborg just dropped off some wind turbine parts in Canada and is now set to load winter wheat bound for Italy.
The first Great Lakes vessel arrived more than a week ago. Even though Northern Minnesota is firmly in the center of the North American continent, it’s awesome to realize that it’s still an international port.
Here’s the press release from the Port Authority:
The first saltie of the 2016 season, the Albanyborg, is underway and expected to sail into the Port of Duluth-Superior this weekend. ETA is approx. 5 p.m. Sunday, April 3. The ship will pass through the Duluth Ship Canal and beneath the Aerial Bridge before making its way to the Clure Public Marine Terminal to dock overnight.
NOTE: All vessel arrival/departure times are estimates, are weather dependent and may change without notice.
The 472-foot Albanyborg, which flies the flag of The Netherlands, will be the first oceangoing vessel to arrive in the Twin Ports this year after transiting the full length of the Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway system. It also was the first foreign-flag vessel to enter the Seaway after it opened on March 23. The multipurpose carrier, part of the Royal Wagenborg fleet, made one stop along the way to deliver a cargo of wind turbine components from Germany to Port Colborne, Ontario, Canada.
Built in 2010, the Albanyborg has 12 crew members onboard and is under the command of Captain Igor Bunenkov. Local vessel agent is Guthrie Hubner.
The vessel is scheduled to spend Monday docked at the Port Terminal while bulkheads are erected inside its cargo hold to prepare for loading grain, then proceed to the CHS terminal on the Superior side of the harbor to load 10,000 metric tons of spring wheat for Italy. If all goes according to schedule, departure is set for late Tuesday/early Wednesday.
The Duluth/Superior Port Authority notes that the latest arrival of this Port’s first saltie was the Diana on May 7, 2014, while the earliest on record was the Federal Hunter on March 30, 2013.
That goes to show you how crazy the weather has been these last few years. This year only missed last year’s record for earliest arrival by three days.
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