The Chem Sirius, a chemical tanker flying the flag of Liberia, is the first ocean-going vessel to reach the Port of Montreal without a stopover in 2017.
Ship captain Danel Ju is to receive the Montreal Port Authority’s gold-headed cane for the feat at a ceremony at a ceremony on Wednesday.
The Chem Sirius, which left the Port of Antwerp in Belgium on Dec. 24, crossed the Port of Montreal’s downstream limits at Sorel on Sunday at 3:16 a.m.
The Montreal Port Authority’s tradition of awarding the gold-headed cane used to herald the opening of the spring shipping season during the era when Montreal’s harbour was icebound for the winter months.
In the early years, the port used to award a top hat to the captain of the first ship to enter the harbour in April. It began awarding a cane with a decorative head in the 1870s.
