Canso Canal Opens for 2013 Shipping Season
AULD’S COVE, Nova Scotia – The Canso Canal will reopen for the 2013 shipping season on April 14 at 0730 hours Atlantic Time.
The canal closes annually in December due to ice buildup in the Northumberland Strait.
In 2012, there were 945 ship passages through the canal carrying over 373,000 tonnes of cargo. The bulk of the cargo was quarried materials and fish products. Another 500 pleasure craft also passed through the canal.
The canal was opened in 1955 to allow for vessel traffic through the Canso Causeway which linked Cape Breton Island and mainland Nova Scotia. The canal, the only one operated by the Canadian Coast Guard, is an essential navigation component of the federal-provincial transportation agreement signed in 1953 which approved construction of the causeway and associated structures.
The canal is comprised of lock approach structures and one tidal lock.
This year, the canal welcomes Denise Loder, the first woman to be a full-time lockmaster in the canal’s 58-year history.
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For more information:
Communications Branch
Maritimes Region
Fisheries and Oceans Canada
902-426-3550
NR-MAR-13-01E
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