Seaway's Shipping Season to Open March 31

The Montreal to Lake Ontario and Welland Canal sections of the St. Lawrence Seaway will open for navigation at 8:00 a.m., March 31, according to an announcement made by the St. Lawrence Seaway Development Corp. (SLSDC). SLSDC administrator Albert S. Jacquez said, "This year's opening is especially significant because 1999 also happens to be the 40th anniversary of the dedication of the St. Lawrence Seaway at ceremonies in 1959, involving President Dwight D. Eisenhower and Queen Elizabeth II." In conjunction with the opening, Jacquez also said, "Our new state-of-the-art computerized vessel traffic control center at the Eisenhower Lock in Massena, N.Y., will become fully operational, and will provide Seaway users, both internal and extrenal, with a seamless source of vessel transit information covering both Seaway sections. "This achievement is part of a joint U.S.-Canadian Seaway project to fully integrate a computerized traffic management system between the Canadian centers at Montreal, Que. and St. Catharines, Ont. And the U.S. Center in Massena." The Seaway's navigation season in 1998, the busiest traffic year in the past decade, opened March 26 and closed December 27.