Record cargo loaded at Sept-Îles

   Canada’s Port of Sept-Îles on the Saint Lawrence Seaway said it set a new record earlier this month when it loaded 302,264 tons of iron ore on a ship, which it said was the largest amount of bulk cargo ever loaded onto a ship in North American maritime history.
   It said on Sunday, Dec, 15, the bulk carrier CSB Years, loaded with ore worth more than $40 million from the Bloom Lake mine, owned by Cliffs Natural Resources, sailed to make its first delivery. The iron ore was transshipped in the bay of Sept-Îles with the assistance of the CSL Spirit self-unloader vessel.
   “The CSB Years is the first ocean-going giant of the Chinamax generation to come to North America and. more specifically, to the deep-sea port of Sept-Îles. It will take nearly 57 days to reach its destination in China and deliver its cargo to Cliffs’ partner, Wuhan Iron and Steel Company,” the port said.
   It said the loading shattered a record set in the Port of Sept-Îles 20 years ago on Oct. 16, 1993, when 255,653 metric tons of iron ore were loaded aboard the Athesis Ore.
   “This new milestone puts the Port of Sept-Îles at a turning point in its history. Chinamax bulk carriers are the way of the future for large iron ore producers because of their operational efficiency and load capacity, which together reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and the number and frequency of ships that anchor in the bay,” said Pierre D. Gagnon, president and chief executive officer of the Port of Sept-Îles.