Thursday May 26 2016 – During its annual general meeting, the Trois-Rivières Port Authority (TRPA) released the results for 2015, which amounts to $1.5M. “We welcomed 203 ships for a total of 3 million metric tons of cargo. International cruise ship traffic increased sharply, with a total of 16 stopovers and 7,000 passengers,” stated Cléo Marchand, chairman of the board of directors of the TRPA.

Gaétan Boivin, president and CEO of the TRPA, also mentioned, “I am especially proud of the announcement in 2015 regarding $35M to be invested in our infrastructures, for which the work is well under way and to which the users will add another $15M in cargo handling equipment.” To these numbers and projects, we can add the many accomplishments outlined in the 2015 Activity Report, which can be viewed at www.porttr.com

Le Débardeur, the beer of the Port of Trois-Rivières

In addition to announcing positive results for 2015, the TRPA officially launched its very own beer, Le Débardeur, brewed by local microbrewery Le Temps d’une Pinte. This new beer’s unique flavour comes from its history. For Alex Dorval, the cofounder of Le Temps d’une Pinte microbrewery, it was important to follow tradition as closely as possible in order to reflect the port workers: “Le Débardeur is a worker’s Porter, like the traditional drink of dock workers in 19th century England. With a dark chocolate bouquet and woody notes, this 4.6% alc/vol beer allowed them to keep a clear head, without compromising taste. We want to pay tribute to all the longshoremen who have worked at the Port of Trois-Rivières since its beginnings in 1882.”

For the beer to reflect the Port of Trois-Rivières, at least one ingredient had to be delivered by boat! In accordance with the original recipe, the microbrewery used a very specific malted barley. “The barley used to create Le Débardeur beer left Denmark on board the Nord Rotterdam vessel in January. The ship arrived at the Port of Trois-Rivières on January 28, 2016, carrying 23,650 tons of barley. Our longshoremen loaded this barley into the grain elevators right here,” says Mr. Boivin.

From there, the barley is transported by truck to the processing plant. Once the barley is malted, it is sent to various microbreweries, such as Le Temps d’une Pinte. The beer was brewed on April 28. And in the company of about 100 Port of Trois-Rivières workers, we “uncasked” the barrel and sampled the beer for the first time today. This partnership with one of the Port’s neighbours is a good example of the relationships the Port wants to maintain within the community.

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One of 18 Canadian Port Authorities, the Port of Trois-Rivières has been in operation for 130 years and offers a broad range of facilities and services to the maritime industry. It plays an important role in regional, national and international economic development for major industrial sectors such as the aluminum, forestry and agri-food industries.

Every year, the Port of Trois-Rivières handles 55,000 trucks, 11,000 freight cars and over 200 merchant and cruise ships from around 100 ports in over 40 countries throughout the world. It handles over 3 million metric tons and generates close to 1,000 direct jobs. 

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