As the St. Lawrence Seaway, the link between the Great Lakes and the Atlantic Ocean, opens for its 59th navigation season, officials say they are cautiously optimistic for the 2017 shipping season.

According to an American Journal of Transportation article, traffic through the seaway was down 3.4% for 2016, but there was an uptick in overseas grain shipments at the end of the season leading many to feel that this year will see an improvement in traffic.

Terence Bowles, president and CEO of the St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation, told AJOT he was “cautiously optimistic” of a better performance in 2017 thanks to a number of positive factors, including large carryovers of grain from the 2016 harvest, signs of stronger economic trends in Canada and the United States, and the favorable impact on maritime transport of the Canada-European Union free trade agreement.

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