GLIN==> First Ship Ceremony held today - April 7 - Port of Duluth-Superior

April 7, 2010   MEDIA UPDATE 

 

Early morning arrival makes it official... 

Federal Elbe is first saltie; First Ship Ceremony held today

  Photo by Steve Sydow

Duluth, Minn. USA - The Duluth Seaway Port Authority hosted a "First
Ship Ceremony" aboard the Federal Elbe today, Wed., April 7, at 1 p.m.
to welcome Captain Darius Malinowski and his crew to the Port of
Duluth-Superior. The ship - the first "saltie" of the 2010 navigation
season to have transited the full Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway System
- is docked and loading grain at the CHS terminal in Superior, Wis.  

 

[photo attached/caption:  Adolph Ojard, Duluth Seaway Port Authority
executive director, and Captain Darius Malinowski compare notes on
international shipping during a First Ship Ceremony held earlier today
on the bridge deck of the Federal Elbe.]

  

The Cyprus-flagged Federal Elbe began her voyage in Italy and will be
headed back loaded with nearly 23,700 short tons (21,500 mt) of durum
wheat for pasta production. She made her way into the harbor at daybreak
this morning, officially passing beneath the Aerial Bridge at 6:11:50
a.m. She had been at anchor outside the Duluth piers since Monday
awaiting the departure of the Canadian laker J.W. Shelley from CHS.
Loading began this morning and will continue tomorrow, with an
anticipated late afternoon/early evening departure Thursday. Local
vessel agent for the Federal Elbe is Daniel's Shipping Services. 

 

Note:  High quality pasta is made out of 100 percent durum wheat. Durum
is bred and developed specifically to have the right gluten strength and
color for the best pasta consistency and taste. "Durum is produced
primarily in North Dakota with an average yield of about 30 bushels per
acre," notes Dave Torgerson, executive director, Minnesota Association
of Wheat Growers. "This shipment to Italy represents about 26,000 acres
of wheat produced by farmers in our neighboring state. We are about as
far away from our export customers as any farmers in the US. But, with
the Port of Duluth-Superior and the Seaway, we have a direct water link
to markets around the world (in particular Europe and North Africa),
which keeps transportation costs competitive and enables North Dakota
and Minnesota farmers to compete globally."  

 

Community leaders and representatives from the maritime industry who
participated in today's ceremony included: Superior Mayor Dave Ross;
Adolph Ojard, executive director of the Duluth Seaway Port Authority;
Michael Jaros with Twin Ports Ministry to Seafarers; and Gene Shaw,
director of public relations for Visit Duluth, who announced the winner
of this year's First Ship Contest - Lindsey Loften of North Branch,
Minn. (her winning entry of 6:12 a.m. was just 10 seconds off the
vessel's actual arrival time). The annual contest is co-sponsored by
Visit Duluth and the Port Authority.  

 

The J.W. Shelley departed at 17:08 p.m. Tuesday with the Port's first
grain shipment of season, approximately 28,200 short tons (25,600 mt) of
spring wheat headed to Quebec. The arrival of this year's "first saltie"
is about a week earlier than last year's arrival of the MV Medemborg
(April 12); the Port's earliest recorded arrival of an oceangoing vessel
was the Indian ship LT Argosy on April 1, 1995. 

 
##

 

For more information:  Adele Yorde, Public Relations Manager, (218)
727-8525; (218) 390-6973

 

 

Adele Yorde

Public Relations Manager

Duluth Seaway Port Authority

1200 Port Terminal Drive

Duluth, MN  55802-2609 U.S.A.

218-727-8525

218-390-6973 (cell)

 

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