Port of Vancouver USA welcomed the Saga Pioneer, commanded by Capt. Kamalaksha V. Kamath of Mumbai, India, on its maiden voyage to the port.

Kamath and the 22-member crew were welcomed to Vancouver by Matt Cress, port manager and Chris Kobus, marine operations manager for Merit Steamship Agency, Inc.; Capt. Stanley Khoo, port captain for Saga Forest Carriers International A.S., Marlin Pulliam, superintendent for Ports America, Inc. , Gilles Langlais, president and CEO Merit Steamship Agency, Inc.; Sudhir K. Maheshwari, senior superintendent for Anglo-Eastern Ship Management along with port representatives Nick Haindl, Matt Graves, Kim Shaffer and Mary Mattix.
The Saga Pioneer was built in Japan and delivered in August 2008. It is nearly 654 feet in length, has deadweight of 46,559 tons, has 10 holds and hatches and two 42-ton gantry cranes. The crew for the vessel’s first visit to the Port of Vancouver USA, was from India.

The vessel discharged approximately 5,500 metric tons of steel from the Far East and Asian ports at Port of Vancouver’s Terminal 3, stevedored by Ports America.

The Saga Pioneer is owned by Saga Shipholding (Norway) S.A. and operated by Saga Forest Carriers. Saga Forest Carriers is represented locally by Merit Steamship Agency, Inc.

Saga continues to develop and expand its trading areas and customer base and is currently operating a fleet of 26 sophisticated open-hatch gantry craned vessels. Saga has fulfilled one of the most extensive new building programs in the industry. “The arrival of the Saga Pioneer marks the last of the nine ships under the new building program of the Saga Adventure class for Saga Forest Carriers. With these nine ships, Saga’s total open hatch gantry crane fleet rests at 27 vessels further demonstrating Saga’s commitment to the break bulk market place,” said Saga’s Vice President/General Manager Paul Prefontaine. This completes the “Adventure Class” new ship builds for Saga in the period from 2005 to 2008 from Oshima Shipbuilding Ltd, Japan in 2008. The vessels in the “Adventure Class” series are; Saga Adventure, Saga Discovery, Saga Explorer, Saga Enterprise, Saga Frontier, Saga Journey, Saga Navigator, Saga Odyssey and Saga Pioneer.

After leaving the Port of Vancouver USA, the vessel sailed to Vancouver, BC, where it discharged steel and loaded bulk products for Europe.

THE IVY GALAXY
The Port of Vancouver USA also welcomed the Ivy Galaxy, commanded by Captain Capt. Baskaran Shanmugam of India, on her first Columbia River call to the port.

Captain Shanmugam and the 21-member crew were welcomed to Vancouver by Gary Martinke, agent for Inchcape Shipping Services, Dale Swanson, terminal manager for NuStar, and Mike Schiller, operations manager and Lars Uglum, operations superintendent from the Port of Vancouver USA.

The Ivy Galaxy was built in Japan and launched in May 2008. It is nearly 478 feet in length, has deadweight of 19,994 tons. The crew for the vessel’s first visit to the Port of Vancouver USA, was from India.

The vessel discharged approximately 34,098 barrels of sodium hydroxide from Japan at Port of Vancouver’s Terminal 2.

The Ivy Galaxy is owned by Heroic Titan, Inc. from Hong Kong and operated by Tokyo Marine. Ivy Galaxy is represented locally by Inchcape Shipping Services.

After leaving the Port of Vancouver USA, the vessel sailed to San Francisco.