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Port of Montreal Celebrates 50th Anniversary of Container Shipping

[ April 7, 2017   //   ]

The Montreal Port Authority (MPA) celebrated the 50th anniversary of the arrival of the
first containers at the Port of Montreal on April 5, a milestone in supply chain history.

In 1967, the Port of Montreal handled its first container. In 1968, it inaugurated the first Canadian container terminal, and Manchester Liners Ltd launched a weekly container transport service to the United Kingdom.

In 1967, the Port of Montreal handled more than 11,300 TEU containers for a single shipping line. In 2016, the port handled 1,447,566 TEUs for six shipping lines. In the past 50 years, nearly 35 million TEUs have transited through Montreal’s port facilities.

Today, the Port of Montreal is the only container port on the St. Lawrence River and the largest port in Eastern Canada. It has five container terminals. Nine regular services operated by global leaders in
marine shipping connect Montreal to over 140 countries. Goods such as food products, fresh produce, electronic equipment and forestry products that are transported by container through Montreal mainly originate from, or are destined to, Northern Europe, Asia and the Mediterranean.
“Like a magnet, the Port of Montreal attracts companies and services that benefit from its presence, and
that’s why the logistics industry is so important in Greater Montreal, and I would like to thank all the workers at the Port, the shipping lines, the supply chain stakeholders and all levels of government for
their contribution to our success,” says Sylvie Vachon, president and CEO of MPA. “To address growth in the container market, we inaugurated the new Viau terminal in 2016 and we are working on our project for a new container terminal at Contrecœur, ensuring the future of container handling for
Montreal and the whole of Quebec.”

 

Remi Samad, General Manager of CMA CGM Canada adds: “Montreal is part of our developments in Canada. As an illustration, we will offer to our customers a new direct service to the Mediterranean
with extensive and fast connection to West Africa and the Middle East effective from May 2017. Other major projects involving Montreal are presently under study. Congratulations to the Port of Montreal on this special anniversary.”

Other executives weighed in with congratulations, including Marc Cadieux, president and CEO of the Quebec Trucking Association; Jean-Jacques Ruest, executive vice president and chief marketing officer, Canadian National; Jonathan Wahba, vice president sales and marketing, intermodal and grain, for Canadian Pacific; Wolfgang Schoch, managing director, Hapag Lloyd, Canada; Jack Mahoney, president, Maersk Line in Canada; Michael Fratianni, CEO, Montreal Gateway Terminal; Sokat Shaikh, president and CEO, MSC Canada; Captain Sid Hynes, executive chairman, Oceanex; Grace Liang, president OOCL Canada; Madeleine Paquin, Board Chairperson- Termont, and Andrew Chodos, president and CEO, Empire Stevedoring.

 

“Our family company started its operations at the Bickerdike pier in 1931,” Chodos says. “Over the years, we have seen numerous improvements in the maritime business amongst which, the very first containers in Montreal. Despite the fact that we now operate in 9 major ports across North America, for us, it all started here at the Port of Montreal over 85 years ago, and we are always proud to mark the event!”

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