ISTRA awarded La canne au pommeau d’or

As the first ship to dock in the port of Quebec City in, the ISTRA nets La canne au pommeau d’or
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Quebec City (Quebec) 5 January 2015 – As is the custom in the Port of Quebec, the first ship to arrive in the New Year gets awarded the Golden Cane.

A tradition going back many years, the first ship to land at the port gets the prize simply as a welcoming gesture to reel in the New Year.

This year the Gold Cane, or La canne au pommeau d’or, was handed over to Captain Damir Tansek, on his Croatia registerd boat that was arriving here from Texas.

The President of the Port de Québec boarded the ship ISTRA and awarded the cane to Captain Tansek himself as a ceremonial gesture.

The ship arrived at 8:30 pm January 1, 2015.

The cargo on board was naptha, which was being delivered to a holding terminal owned by Energie Valéro Inc.

The St. Lawrence River was almost free of ice this year, making the ISTRA’s voyage easier than other years when the river is at times impassible from too much frozen water.

The colder temperatures on the other hand make it difficult for the crews, as more often than not they arrive from a warmer climate.

The temperature on New Year’s Day was hovering around a bracing -15 Celsius.