The Barbro G was the first oceangoing vessel of the 2024 maritime shipping season to enter the Port of Duluth-Superior on Monday, crossing under the Aerial Lift Bridge at 11:44 a.m.

The Portuguese-flagged 623-foot bulk carrier, operated by Sweden’s Brochart KB, earned the First Ship Award from the Duluth Seaway Port Authority for completing the season’s first full transit of the St. Lawrence Seaway en route to the Great Lakes’ westernmost port.

By tradition, this first arrival of a saltwater ship from the Atlantic Ocean marks the annual opening of the Duluth-Superior Harbor, though the interlake navigation season began with the Poe Lock opening on March 22.

The Barbro G motored to the Ceres/Riverland Ag terminal on Rice’s Point to load approximately 22,000 short tons of durum wheat destined for Algeria.

“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,” Deb DeLuca, executive director of the Duluth Seaway Port Authority, said in a statement. “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 April 1 first saltie arrival was just four days later than the all-time earliest first ship, set March 28, 2023.

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