Port of Montreal handles record 38m tons of cargo in 2017

According to the Montreal Port Authority, the record cargo volume growth was supported by major development projects in 2017, including the new Viau Container Terminal, which completed its first full year of operations last year.    The Port of Montreal handled close to 38 million tons of freight in 2017, according to preliminary statistics released by the port Jan. 3.
   The unaudited figure represents an increase of almost 7 percent in cargo traffic, as well as an historic record, according to the port.
   The Montreal Port Authority attributed the record growth to major development projects in 2017, including the new Viau Container Terminal, which completed its first full year of operations last year.
   The Viau terminal, which was inaugurated in November 2016 and is operated by Termont Montreal Inc., has a capacity of 600,000 TEUs, about 25 percent of the Port of Montreal’s total 2.1 million-TEU capacity.
   Also, last September, the port authority submitted an Environmental Impact Statement for a planned 1.15 million-TEU container terminal expansion project at Contrecoeur.
   “This key project for the future of the container in Montreal and Quebec is based on the steady growth of containerized cargo in recent decades,” Montreal Port Authority President and CEO Sylvie Vachon explained. “It grew out of extensive dialogue and cooperative efforts with the local community.”
   The project, Vachon said, will be subject to consultations through the regulatory process of the federal regulatory process in early 2018.
   In addition to record container volumes, the port said that results are also excellent in its cruise sector, and that it “shattered” a cruise traffic record last year.
   In 2017, Montreal welcomed more than 114,517 cruise passengers and crew members, a 33 percent leap over the previous year, according to port data. This was due in large part to the June 2017 inauguration of a new cruise terminal.