Port of Montreal received the largest petroleum tanker to have ever visited the port. The MT Overseas Portland, carrying 475,000 barrels of crude oil, left St. James, Louisiana, on November 26 and docked at the Suncor berth in Pointe-aux-Trembles, on December 5.
Aframax vessels are tankers with a deadweight tonnage (the total weight of all contents transported by the vessel) ranging between 80,000 and 120,000 tonnes. They are the largest vessels for which the Average Freight Rate Assessment (AFRA) system is used and from which the name “Aframax” derives. Built in 2002, the 112,139-deadweight-tonne MT Overseas Portland is 250.2 metres long and 44 metres wide.
In May 2013, the maximum width of vessels authorized to sail in the Quebec-Montreal section of the St. Lawrence navigation channel increased to 44 metres from 32.1 metres. The Canadian Coast Guard (CCG) made the decision following a study commissioned by Montreal Port Authority and conducted jointly with Transport Canada, CCG, Laurentian Pilotage Authority and the Corporation of Central St. Lawrence Pilots.
“Port of Montreal has thereby reinforced its strategic position as a logistics and transportation hub of choice for all types of cargo,” said Sylvie Vachon, President and CEO of Montreal Port Authority.