The 2016 shipping season in the port of Thunder Bay officially closes today.
The last vessel to dock in the port is the MV Frontenac, bringing a cargo of road salt to the MobilEx terminal on the Mission River.
The Thunder Bay Port Authority says the season culminated with a cargo rush during which the port posted one of its busiest Decembers in recent memory.
Grain elevators were particularly busy during the late-season surge, with monthly cargo records dating back to 1995 showing that the terminals putt out an unprecedented amount of grain for the month of December.
For the third consecutive season, the port's cargo total finished above-average, at just under 9 million metric tons. The port authority attributes that to strong grain shipments as well as increases in coal and project cargo shipments.
403 boats visited the port this year, including 109 foreign vessels.