St. Lawrence Seaway begins 2019 navigation season

The Seaway was inaugurated sixty years ago by Queen Elizabeth II and President Eisenhower.

The St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation marked its 60th anniversary this week with the opening of the 2019 navigation season. The Federal Kumano served as the opening vessel, as the ship loaded with a bulk cargo of titanium chloride transited the St. Lambert Lock on its way to the Port of Ashtabula, Ohio.

The Seaway enjoyed strong results in 2018, with 41 million tonnes of cargo moving through its locks. With continued momentum in the grain sector, the 2019 navigation season should offer further gains in tonnage, enabling the Seaway to reach 42 million tonnes of cargo.

Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and President Dwight D. Eisenhower attended the Seaway opening in 1959. Since then, nearly three billion tons of cargo with an estimated value of over $450 billion has moved through the St. Lawrence Seaway to and from Canada, and nearly 50 other nations.

In addition to being hailed as an engineering marvel essential to international trade and transportation, the waterway has long been recognized as a model of international cooperation between Canada and the United States.