Shipping Season Starts at the Port of ThunderBay!

BYSCOTTA. SUMNER

I sat down March 20th with Chris Heikkinen, Director of Business Development & Terminal Operations at the Port of Thunder Bay to talk about the supervisor and mentor as well for the CPAdesignation. Chris’s dad, Doug Heikkinen, was also a CPAwell known in the city. season so it will be about a 10 months season.The ocean going vessels have a slightly shorter season based on the locks.”

This is an exciting time as we very close to the opening of the Port forthe 2023 season.

How many grain elevators are operational in ThunderBay?

“ Right now 6 are actively shipping. G3 and Superior Elevator on the Kam River and in what we call the Intercity part of the harbour there are two Viterra- Aand B and that is also where Canada Malting is which doesn’t do shipping anymore. On the north part of the harbour are the two Richardson's terminals.”

What does the Port of ThunderBay do before the shipping season begins?

“ We are in communication a lot with the ice breaking group. Also we are disseminating information out to the facilities in town that are gearing up for the season. At Keefer Terminal there are two lake vessels that were tied up for the winter, undergoing maintenance and repair work so we are readying for those vessels to depart. The winter is mostly planning for the season ahead- business planning, strategizing and marketing to get the highest tonnage level. The way we like to describe it is we use the Port assets to the benefit of the community. We try to get as much business from outside of our community flowing through the Port which provides financial benefits through jobs and spending here.” upcoming season and what to expect. Chris graduated into this position in December 2022 and has been with the Port for 13 years now. He graduated from

“ The ice breaker should be here any day to open the routes right into the elevators. The weather was beneficial as the winter wasn’t as relentlessly cold as they often are so less ice development. It should be a fairly smooth start to the shipping season in that regard. The lake itself is almost wide open with really just the bays and overall under 5% coverage.We have had a 2 month shut down since last the commerce program in 2009.Chris is a CPA, obtained by working at the Port when his role had an accounting focus for a number of years. It took several years to go through the CPAprogram working under two CPA’s that work there Tim Heney and Mel Parker.You need a direct