Saint John Port Authority is pleased to announce first quarter successes in three of its market sectors: cruise, project cargo and forest products.

'On the heels of the Seatrade Cruise Conference and Trade Show held recently in Miami, we are pleased to confirm five additional cruise calls to the port for this year' says Captain Soppitt, President & CEO. 'The Carnival Victory will call September 13, 20, 27 and October 4, extending Carnival's Bay of Fundy season by an extra month, and we are pleased to welcome Celebrity Cruises' ship the Constellation on October 3.' This will bring the total confirmed calls to 33 and the total number of passengers and crew to 87,300 and 35,000 respectively, which will have an economic impact of $9 million on the region.

Secondly, Furncan Marine have secured a contract for exporting project cargo at the Lower Cove terminal. Almost 500 pieces of dismantled equipment is being transferred from the dry dock to Lower Cove by road and by barge to be loaded for India. 'This demonstrates the importance of Lower Cove to our marine business,' Captain Soppitt explained. 'The cargo is labor intensive and creates much needed work for port labor, trucking companies and equipment handling firms. With this versatility and flexibility the port is well-positioned to attract other project cargo to the port, particularly with the pending refurbishment of Point Lepreau and the construction of LNG handling facility.'

Finally, with the start-up of operations at the AV Nackawic mill, shipments of pulp products have resumed through the Port of Saint John over the past month, heralding a return of regular service from the port by Star Shipping, of Bergen, Norway. 'We are extremely pleased to welcome our long-standing customer Star Shipping back to the Port of Saint John,' said Captain Soppitt, and we look forward to their renewed presence at our forest products terminal' The re-introduction of this cargo will have positive impact on port labor, the terminal operator (Logistec Stevedoring Atlantic, Inc.), and the Port Authority as well as numerous other port-related services and associated transportation industries.