M/V Federal Nagara arrived under Duluth’s Aerial Lift Bridge at 6:05 a.m. on April 21, becoming the first oceangoing vessel to complete a full transit of the St. Lawrence Seaway and reach the Port of Duluth-Superior during the 2025 navigation season.
Along with earning First Ship honors, the Fednav vessel also distinguished herself as the port’s latest-arriving first saltie since 2014, when the Antigua-flagged Diana established a record with her ice-delayed May 7 arrival.
Federal Nagara, captained by R.C. Sanjeewa and crewed by 23, also endured an ice delay, but only briefly, at the Soo Locks in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. The vessel’s arrival in Duluth coincided with a weather system that dampened her deck and dumped more than an inch of snow atop the Zenith City hillside.
Built in Japan and flying the Marshall Islands flag, Federal Nagara departed Germany’s Port of Bremen in late March, carrying German-manufactured machinery destined for Duluth’s Clure Public Marine Terminal, and eventually, a Red River Valley sugarbeet processing plant in North Dakota. After crossing the Atlantic Ocean, the vessel stopped briefly in Quebec, at Contrecoeur, before continuing into the Great Lakes on her way to Duluth. Her arrival made a winner of Iowan Kristi Osheim in the 42nd Annual First Ship Contest, co-sponsored by Visit Duluth and the Duluth Seaway Port Authority. Osheim’s guess of April 21 at 6:06 a.m. was a mere 38 seconds from the actual arrival date and time – one of the closest guesses in contest history.
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More than 700 vessels and 30 million short tons of cargo move through the Port of Duluth-Superior each year, making it the Great Lakes’ largest tonnage port and one of the nation’s top 20. The port supports more than 7,000 jobs and contributes $1.3 billion in business revenue to the regional economy. Learn more at DuluthPort.com.