The M/V Eternus, an Isle of Man-registered vessel sailing from Falmouth, United Kingdom, was the first ship to arrive in Sept-Îles this year, at 5:20 a.m. on January 4, 2013. The vessel arrived empty and docked on January 11 at Rio Tinto IOC dock Nº 2. It will set sail again with 162,721 tonnes of iron ore destined for Dunkirk, France.
Pierre D. Gagnon, President and CEO of Port of Sept-Îles, presented Captain Miroslaw Kaczmarczyk with the prestigious cane bearing the Port of Sept-Îles insignia.
Several gifts were presented to the Captain by Ms. Lorraine Dubuc-Johnson, pro-mayor of the City of Sept-Îles, as well as by representatives of Rio Tinto IOC.
This tradition, now in its 26th year, marks the arrival of the first ship of the year to call the Port. To be eligible, the vessel must come directly from a foreign Port and be bound for a destination outside the country without making a previous call at a Canadian port. In 2012, the prestigious cane was transformed in order to showcase the materials that form the basis of the Port operations, iron and aluminum. The more contemporary version of the cane is a reflection of the Port logo, with its stylised polished aluminum head supporting an iron ore rock whose brilliance is reflected in a half sphere of acrylic. The seven stars of the Port logo which represent the seven islands in the Bay of Sept-Îles have been reproduced in gold on the band of the cane. The head of the cane is mounted on a dark rosewood shaft that brings warmth and prestige to its creation.