In 1967, the Port of Montreal handled its first container. In 1968, it inaugurated the first Canadian container terminal, and Manchester Liners Ltd launched a weekly container transport service to the United Kingdom.
In 1967, the Port of Montreal handled more than 11,300TEU (Twenty-foot Equivalent Unit) containers for a single shipping line. In 2016, the Port handled 1,447,566 TEUs for six shipping lines. In the past fifty years, nearly 35 million TEUs have transited through Montreal’s port facilities.
Today, the Port of Montreal is the only container port on the St. Lawrence River and the largest port in Eastern Canada. It has five container terminals. Nine regular services operated by global leaders in marine shipping connect Montreal to over 140 countries. Goods such as food products, fresh produce, electronic equipment and forestry products that are transported by container through Montreal mainly originate from, or are destined to, Northern Europe, Asia and the Mediterranean.
“In this year of festivities for Montreal and Canada, I am pleased to celebrate the 50 years of containerization that forged our history. Containers are literally in our DNA at the Port of Montreal. It’s what sets us apart and it’s our strength, right on par with the great diversity of cargo that we handle.Like a magnet, the Port of Montreal attracts companies and services that benefit from its presence, and that’s why the logistics industry is so important in Greater Montreal, and I would like to thank all the workers at the Port, the shipping lines, the supply chain stakeholders and all levels of government for their contribution to our success.”
“To address growth in the container market, we inaugurated the new Viau terminal in 2016 and we are working on our project for a new container terminal at Contrecœur, ensuring the future of container handling for Montreal and the whole of Quebec,” said Sylvie Vachon, President and CEO of the MPA.