The first oceangoing vessel of the 2024 maritime shipping season entered the Port of Duluth-Superior on Monday.

M/V Barbro G, a 623-foot bulk carrier operated by Sweden’s Brochart KB, earned 2024 First Ship honors,
completing the season’s first full transit of the St. Lawrence Seaway en route to the Great Lakes’ westernmost port.

By tradition, this first full transit from the Atlantic Ocean marks the annual opening of the Duluth-Superior Harbor, although the interlake navigation season began with the Poe Lock opening on March 22.

After arriving under Duluth’s Aerial Lift Bridge at 11:44 a.m., Barbro G sailed to the Ceres/Riverland Ag
terminal on Rice’s Point to load approximately 22,000 short tons of durum wheat destined for Algeria.

Colley Motorships (Montréal) and Guthrie-Hubner Inc. (Duluth-Superior) are the vessel agents for Barbro G, which is captained by Borys Smyrnov of Ukraine.

The vessel is sailing under the flag of Portugal.

“Despite our recent snowstorm, arrival of the season’s first full Seaway transit is a true sign of spring and a reminder of the economic impact these great ships help deliver to our region,” said Deb DeLuca, executive director of the Duluth Seaway Port Authority. “We’re excited to welcome Barbro G and share our Midwestern wheat cargo with the world via the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Seaway System.”

The Port Authority’s annual First Ship welcoming event is scheduled for tomorrow. A fixture of the celebration – the 41st annual First Ship contest, co-sponsored by Visit Duluth and the Duluth Seaway Port
Authority – will crown a winner from nearly 8,000 entries based on the official Barbro G arrival time.