Duluth welcomes Federal Churchill

(Posted on 14/04/20)

The Duluth Seaway Port Authority has welcomed the first oceangoing vessel to the Port of Duluth-Superior thereby officially launching the 2020 international shipping season. The number one tonnage port on the Great Lakes, Duluth-Superior moves some 35 million short tons of cargo annually. The multimodal hub anchors the Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway system, serving as mid-America's gateway for domestic and global trade.

The vessel, Federal Churchill, a 2016-built, 34,500-DWT, ice-class bulk carrier owned and operated by Montreal-based Fednav, will load a cargo of about 21,000 metric tons of wheat destined to Italy for the account of shippers Riverland Ag Corp.

Fednav’s Federal Churchill, the first oceangoing ship of the 2020 navigation season arriving in the Port of Duluth-Superior. Photo credit: David Kaye (CNW Group/Fednav Limited)

In light of the current global pandemic, it is reassuring to know that all members of the agricultural and maritime communities are collaborating to offer the highest sanitary and safety operational measures so that trade routes may be kept open and essential agricultural commodities delivered to ports worldwide.

Riverland Ag Corp., owned by Minnesota-based Ceres Global Ag Corp, is an agricultural grain storage and handling and supply chain business. The company operates 14 grain storage facilities in Minnesota, North Dakota, Wyoming, New York, Wisconsin, and Ontario.

Founded over 75 years ago, Fednav Limited is a privately-owned company and Canada's largest ocean-going bulk shipping company. The company's fleet consists of more than 120 bulk carriers, 64 of which are owned. Fednav also operates 11 marine terminals in North America.