The St. Lawrence Seaway officially closed for the season on Dec.26, 2002, with the passage of the downbound ship, SCL Laurentien through the St. Lambert Lock near Montreal at 20:29 hours. The St. Lawrence Seaway opened its 44th shipping season on March 26 and remained open for 276 days in 2002. Estimated combined cargo passing through the Welland Canal and the Montreal/Lake Ontario sections of the system was about 41,117,000 metric tons, down 1.4 percent from 2001. Iron ore shipments amounting to 9.6 million metric tons (up 11 percent) took the lead. Grain shipments were down 12.8 percent. Other commodities associated with the steel industry and other bulk cargo, declined by about 5 percent.
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