Market Matters Blog           04/28 09:20

   First Official Saltie Arrives in Duluth-Superior From Germany

   The Federal Nagara, the first official saltie of the 2025 ocean shipping 
season, arrived in the Port of Duluth-Superior April 21.

Mary Kennedy
DTN Basis Analyst

   It was a cold, damp morning in Duluth, Minnesota, on April 21, when the 
first official saltie (a common name for visiting ocean-going vessels) of the 
2025 season arrived.

   "It was definitely a wet arrival; 1.5 inches of snow fell atop the hill and 
steady rain was falling in the Duluth ship canal," Jayson Hron, director of 
communication and marketing, Duluth Seaway Port Authority, said in an email to 
DTN. "It's always a special occasion when the Port of Duluth-Superior (Twin 
Ports) welcomes its first oceangoing arrival of the season, but it's extra 
special when that first ship, Federal Nagara, is destined for our Clure Public 
Marine Terminal."

   By tradition, this first full transit from the Atlantic Ocean marks the 
annual opening of the Duluth-Superior Harbor, although the interlake navigation 
season this year began four days early. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, 
Detroit District, opened the Poe Lock, part of the Soo Locks, in Sault Ste. 
Marie, Michigan, on March 21, marking the start of the 2025 Great Lakes 
shipping season.

   "Federal Nagara is part of the Fednav fleet, a flotilla that circumnavigates 
the globe more than 900 times annually. The vessel departed Germany's Port of 
Bremen in late March, carrying German-manufactured machinery destined for 
Duluth's Clure Public Marine Terminal. After crossing the Atlantic Ocean, she 
transited the St. Lawrence Seaway, stopping briefly in Quebec, at Contrecoeur, 
before continuing into the Great Lakes," added Hron.

   As for the equipment the vessel was carrying, "Duluth Cargo Connect will 
perform ship-to-shore cargo-handling and logistics operations for Federal 
Nagara, preparing the cargo pieces for last-mile transport to sugar mill 
facilities in North Dakota," said Hron.

   You may have read that there was already a saltie, Federal Yoshino, that 
arrived in the Twin Ports on April 8, 2025. However, it did not qualify as the 
first ship/saltie of 2025. It transited the Seaway late last year and suffered 
damage during a November call at Thunder Bay, Ontario, where it remained 
through the winter for repairs.

   In 1984, the Duluth Seaway Port Authority and Visit Duluth launched what 
became an annual First Ship Contest in conjunction with the 25th anniversary of 
Seaway.

   "For contest purposes, the first ship must make a full transit of the St. 
Lawrence Seaway enroute to Duluth-Superior, and that transit must occur during 
the current shipping season. As a result, the Marshall Islands-flagged Federal 
Yoshino, did not qualify as the First Ship of 2025, given she stayed in Ontario 
over the winter," said Hron.

   Since the St. Lawrence Seaway's opening in 1959, the Port of Duluth-Superior 
has celebrated its first oceangoing ship arrival each year. By tradition, this 
annual rite of spring marks the opening of North America's farthest-inland 
seaport to oceangoing navigation, and its triumphant emergence from winter.

   The latest arrival of the Twin Ports' first oceangoing ship (Diana) was May 
7, 2014. The earliest (Federal Dart) was March 28, 2023. Last year, the 
season's first saltie (Barbro G) arrived April 1 at 11:44 a.m.

   Video of the Federal Nagara arriving in Duluth April 21: 
https://youtu.be/DaX5d1I5y60?feature=shared

   Mary Kennedy can be reached at mary.kennedy@dtn.com

   Follow her on social platform X @MaryCKenn




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