Belledune Bulk Cargos Flourish

Bucking what appears to be an international trend, the Belledune Port Authority (BPA) has experienced an upturn in bulk cargo movements. In November alone, the port received 10 ships and more than 274,000 metric tons of cargo

"Activity-wise, this has been the best month the Port has ever seen," remarked Port Authority CEO Rayburn Doucett. "Not only have we had our highest calling for vessels and cargo movement, we also had what we call a ‘full house’, seeing four vessels in at one time for a maximum capacity! To have this kind of traffic at the Port while shippers in the rest of the world are complaining about a decrease is proof of the efforts made by the Port’s marketing team, led by Director of Marketing Jenna MacDonald, as well as the hard work and efficiency of our stevedore’s, Eastern Canada Stevedoring."

Terminal 3, operated by Eastern Canada Stevedoring (ECS), also had an extraordinary month with 9 vessels. The effort involved more than 5,500 loads, including 481 woodchip trailers, and more than 7000 man hours with up to 63 employees at the peak of operation. Donald Roy, General Manager of ECS, stated "This is the highest production rate per ton we’ve achieved for loading woodchips and the highest production rate for unloading a met coke vessel. It’s rewarding to be able to say that within this accomplishment, no employee time was lost. We’re extremely proud of the efficiency and professionalism conducted by our employees."

Mr. Doucett responded by saying: "Their combined efforts to develop business at the Port is a prime example of efficient team work. Together with ECS we’ve seen the development of wood chip exports at the port, which means not only an increase in vessels and tonnage, but also manpower, contributing to the local economies in Northern New Brunswick."