VANCOUVER, Wash. – The Port of Vancouver USA welcomed the Federal Iris, commanded by Capt. Donald Satsatin Nicolas from the Philippines, on her maiden voyage to the United States Aug. 30. Capt. Nicolas, Chief Engineer Ronaldo Reyes Tolentino and the Iris’ 20-member Filipino crew were welcomed to Vancouver by Russ Lyzell with General Steamship Corp., and Steve Mickelson, Zachary Merrill, Abbi Russell, Angela Blake and Debbie Taylor with the Port of Vancouver.
The Federal Iris is operated by Federal Navigation of Montreal and owned by Forward Gloria Navigation. The vessel, which is 656 feet long with a deadweight capacity of 63,498 metric tons, was built in Japan and launched Aug. 9. The Federal Iris will load approximately 6,700 metric tons of copper concentrate at the Port of Vancouver before sailing to Portland, Oregon, to load soda ash, and Vancouver, B.C., to load wheat. Her next destinations after the North American West Coast are China and Indonesia.