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/…

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

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