Port of Montreal awards Gold-Headed Cane to first ship’s captain of 2026

The first vessel of the year to enter Montreal’s port, and earning its captain a distinction that dates back nearly two centuries, was the oil and chemical tanker Byzantion.

The ship’s arrival triggers a long-standing tradition of the Port of Montreal: the presentation of the Gold-Headed Cane to the captain of the first vessel to reach Montreal each year.

The Port of Montreal congratulated Andrejs Kuharenoks, the Byzantion’s captain, for taking the honour. On social media, the port said he joined “the long tradition of the Port of Montreal.”

For more than a 180 years, Montreal has celebrated the arrival of the first ship of the year with the ceremony.

Back in the 19th century, ice often meant months of waiting before the season’s first vessel could reach the city. When it finally appeared, Montrealers would gather on the docks to cheer its arrival.

But that changed with the mid-20th-century transformation of the St. Lawrence.

The completion of the St. Lawrence Seaway in 1959, followed by the deployment of modern icebreakers, made year-round navigation possible by 1964. Ships could then reach Montreal during the winter months.

This year’s vessel, the Byzantion, is a 182-metre-long oil and chemical tanker with a width of 27.34 metres, sailing under the flag of the Marshall Islands, according to MarineTraffic.

The vessel arrived in Montreal from Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, in Spain’s Canary Islands.