MV CAPTAIN HENRY JACKMAN TAKES TOP HAT HONOUR
M.V. Captain Henry Jackman has officially opened the 2025 Port of Thunder Bay shipping season. In a gathering of familiar faces, the Port of Thunder Bay on Tuesday recognized the crew of the Captain Henry Jackman in a Top Hat Ceremony held at Richardson International's Main Elevator.
Captain Aaron Brunelle and Chief Engineer David Michalowicz were bestowed the traditional Top Hat by Port Board Member John Henderson, along with a wealth of kind and welcoming wishes from Mayor Ken Boshcoff.
The Captain Henry Jackman officially arrived in the Port of Thunder Bay on Monday, March 24, crossing the breakwall at 12:12 p.m. The laker vessel is taking on a load of Canadian grain.
This marks an earlier-than-usual opening to the shipping season. The Soo Locks, which typically open on March 25, instead opened on Friday, March 21, enabling ships access to and from Lake Superior.
The Top Hat Ceremony draws attention to both the importance of marine shipping and the impact of the port on the local economy. Globally, an overwhelming majority of goods are transported by ship, with volumes rising annually. The Port provides significant employment and contributes hundreds of millions of dollars annually to the local economy.
Captain Aaron Brunelle of the MV Captain Henry Jackman owned by Algoma Central Corporation
“ It feels good to be at the dock. The Top Hat ceremony is a longstanding tradition.We came from Sarnia off the St Mary's River andarrived yesterday waiting in the harbour for ice breaking to occur. Wehad calm seas with little ice and are loading grain destined for BaiComeau Quebec. We have 18 crew on board and will do 20 to 25 trips toThunder Bay this season.”
Chris Heikkinen, CEO of TBPA
“ The Top Hat ceremony is a great symbolic event which represents thereopening of the port and the shipping economy for the city. It is avital transportation route for Canada to get it's products tointernational markets and bring in products from internationalmarkets.”
“ The season closed mid January and here we are just over 2 months andstarting up again, so a quick turnaround. The seasons have been gettinglonger in the last few years.”
“ The Port had about 12% growth year over year. In 2024 we had thelargest volume of cargo moved through this port in over 20 years. Weexpect to see similar volumes to last year in 2025.”
“ The Port is primarily an east west moving hub so 95% of the cargo is from Western Canada to international destinations. This limits the riskfrom tariffs so we are in a good position in Thunder Bay. We have goodcapacity for growth with existing cargoes.”
“ The Port of Thunder Bay and the St Lawrence Seaway are critical to Canadian trade. Last year this port handled over 10 million tonnes ofcargo.”The Port of Thunder Bay itself employs over 1000 direct jobs in thecity and then of course there are indirect jobs from that. A study fromabout 10 years ago pegged the economic impact annually from the Port ofThunder Bay to over $400 million and that has certainly risen sincethan as cargo had grown.”
All signs point to a good 2025 season for the Port of Thunder Bay!
