March 26 - As the Port of Hamilton Authority (PHA), which celebrates its 100th anniversary this year, officially welcomed its first ship for the 2012 shipping and navigation season, president and CEO Bruce Wood reported that project cargoes was one of the

Wood said: "The port has fared well in efforts to further diversify the cargo mix and attract new vessel traffic. We've experienced unprecedented growth in infrastructure investment over the past two years and expect new project developments to be announced soon."

This will be the first full year in the port for Parrish and Heimbecker and one that will see the operations of Lafarge Hamilton SlagMcAshphalt IndustriesBermingham Foundation Solutions and Fluke Transport all grow in new port terminals. The displacement of truck loads to marine and within port lands provide added benefit to the city, said the PHA.

The St. Lawrence Seaway System officially marked the start of the season with the opening of the Welland Canal and Montreal-LakeOntario section with ceremonies at the Lock 3 Museum in St. Catharines last week. The PHA states that the Port of Hamilton is the largest Canadian port on the Great Lakes in terms of both size and cargo handled.

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