The Port of Vancouver USA welcomed the Spar Rigel, commanded by Capt. Ranish Raveendran of India, on her maiden voyage to the United States on April 30, 2010.

Raveendran and his 19-member crew were welcomed to Vancouver by Russell Mitchell and Kate Moreno, local agent for Southport Agencies, Inc., Seth Honrud from United Harvest and port representatives Andrew Ness, Lars Uglum and Todd Krout.

The Spar Rigel, named for the owner’s granddaughter, was built in Yangzhou, China and launched April 7, 2010. Spar Shipping AS will take ownership of six additional new ship builds over the next two years. The vessel is 623 feet in length and has a deadweight capacity of 58,000 metric tons. The crew for the vessel’s first visit to the Port of Vancouver USA is from India. The vessel is owned by Spar Shipping AS and chartered by Clipper Bulk (USA) LLC. And Southport Agencies, Inc. is the vessel’s agent.

The voyage was chartered by Multi-flour International Corporation. The ship is loading 47,000 metric tons of spring, soft white and hard red wheat for discharge to Acajutla, El Salvador and will complete her discharge in Puerto Quetzal, Guatemala.