{"id":125,"date":"2019-09-19T12:56:08","date_gmt":"2019-09-19T12:56:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/greatlakes-seaway.com\/?page_id=125"},"modified":"2026-02-05T10:24:48","modified_gmt":"2026-02-05T15:24:48","slug":"transiting-the-seaway","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/greatlakes-seaway.com\/en\/commercial-shipping\/transiting-the-seaway\/","title":{"rendered":"Transiting the Seaway"},"content":{"rendered":"

What You Need to Know<\/h3>\n

The following checklist will serve to provide a quick orientation of what steps are required to transit the St. Lawrence Seaway.<\/p>\n

This list is not exhaustive in nature, and a\u00a0shipping agent<\/a> should be consulted to ensure that all of the requirements are fulfilled (please note that inclusion in this list does NOT imply an endorsement by The St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation or by the Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation).<\/p>\n

Steps<\/h4>\n
    \n
  1. Review\u00a0Seaway Handbook<\/a><\/strong>
    \nPart I Condition of Ships (Compliance)
    \nPart II Information Concerning Pre-Clearance and Security for Fee Payments
    \nPart III Seaway Navigation
    \nPart IV Radio Communication
    \nPart VI Dangerous Cargo<\/li>\n
  2. If the vessel in question does not comply with the Seaway Practices & Procedures noted in Part I of the Seaway Handbook, contact The St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation to request that a\u00a0free review of the vessel drawings<\/a>\u00a0be performed. The review will determine what (if any) modifications may be required to render the vessel Seaway compliant. This free service is available for all new and existing vessels.<\/li>\n
  3. Conduct a review of\u00a0all Seaway Notices & Notices to Shipping<\/a>\u00a0posted for the current navigation season. The provisions found within these notices serve to compliment the requirements found in the Seaway Handbook, and must be adhered to.<\/li>\n
  4. Vessels not equipped with landing booms (or vessel’s who do not wish to use their own landing booms) must make arrangements with a service provider for tie-up at approach walls prior to commencing transit of the Seaway.<\/li>\n
  5. Vessels must comply with Transport Canada, US Coast Guard and Seaway\u00a0Ballast Water Regulations<\/a>.<\/li>\n
  6. Vessels must be equipped with an AIS unit that is capable of transmitting and receiving a DGPS signal (for details, refer to the\u00a0Seaway Handbook<\/a>).<\/li>\n
  7. Every vessel will be stopped prior to its initial transit, for each Seaway navigation season, and subjected to a joint Seaway inspection and ballast water inspection. These inspections are conducted 24\/7 and an inspection fee may be applicable (contact an agent for more information, if required).<\/li>\n
  8. Vessels must have on board all applicable navigation charts and Canadian and US publications for the intended voyage, prior to entering the Seaway (contact an agent for more information, if required).<\/li>\n
  9. Vessels must comply with applicable Seaway draught. Information on Seaway draught can be obtained from applicable\u00a0notice<\/a>(s) issued for the current navigation season.<\/li>\n
  10. Vessels will be subject to mandatory pilotage (for more information, please consult an\u00a0agent<\/a>\u00a0or the\u00a0Pilotage Authorities<\/a>).<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
    \n

    Interested in shipping cargo on our system? Please consult\u00a0www.hwyh2o.com<\/a>\u00a0for more information.<\/p>\n

    Seaway Business Development Offices:<\/h4>\n

    marketing@seaway.ca<\/a><\/p>\n

    \"\"\u00a0 Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation (United States)
    \nPeter Hirthe
    \nDirector, Office of Trade and Economic Development
    \n(202) 366-0091<\/p>\n

    \"\"\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation (Canada)
    \nKen Carey
    \nGeneral Manager, Commercial
    \n(905) 641-1343 ext. 5081<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    What You Need to Know The following checklist will serve to provide a quick orientation of what steps are required to transit the St. Lawrence Seaway. This list is not exhaustive in nature, and a\u00a0shipping agent should be consulted to ensure that all of the requirements are fulfilled (please note that inclusion in this list<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"parent":18,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-125","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nTransiting the Seaway - Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway System<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"What You Need to Know The following checklist will serve to provide a quick orientation of what steps are required to transit the St. Lawrence Seaway.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/greatlakes-seaway.com\/en\/commercial-shipping\/transiting-the-seaway\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Transiting the Seaway - Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway System\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"What You Need to Know The following checklist will serve to provide a quick orientation of what steps are required to transit the St. Lawrence Seaway.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/greatlakes-seaway.com\/en\/commercial-shipping\/transiting-the-seaway\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway System\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-02-05T15:24:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/greatlakes-seaway.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/300x300-logo-en.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"334\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"330\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:image\" content=\"https:\/\/greatlakes-seaway.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/300x300-logo-en.png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/greatlakes-seaway.com\\\/en\\\/commercial-shipping\\\/transiting-the-seaway\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/greatlakes-seaway.com\\\/en\\\/commercial-shipping\\\/transiting-the-seaway\\\/\",\"name\":\"Transiting the Seaway - Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway System\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/greatlakes-seaway.com\\\/en\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/greatlakes-seaway.com\\\/en\\\/commercial-shipping\\\/transiting-the-seaway\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/greatlakes-seaway.com\\\/en\\\/commercial-shipping\\\/transiting-the-seaway\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/greatlakes-seaway.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2019\\\/09\\\/us_flag.gif\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-09-19T12:56:08+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-02-05T15:24:48+00:00\",\"description\":\"What You Need to Know The following checklist will serve to provide a quick orientation of what steps are required to transit the St. Lawrence Seaway.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/greatlakes-seaway.com\\\/en\\\/commercial-shipping\\\/transiting-the-seaway\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/greatlakes-seaway.com\\\/en\\\/commercial-shipping\\\/transiting-the-seaway\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/greatlakes-seaway.com\\\/en\\\/commercial-shipping\\\/transiting-the-seaway\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/greatlakes-seaway.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2019\\\/09\\\/us_flag.gif\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/greatlakes-seaway.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2019\\\/09\\\/us_flag.gif\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/greatlakes-seaway.com\\\/en\\\/commercial-shipping\\\/transiting-the-seaway\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/greatlakes-seaway.com\\\/en\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Commercial Shipping\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/greatlakes-seaway.com\\\/en\\\/commercial-shipping\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Transiting the Seaway\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/greatlakes-seaway.com\\\/en\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/greatlakes-seaway.com\\\/en\\\/\",\"name\":\"Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway System\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/greatlakes-seaway.com\\\/en\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/greatlakes-seaway.com\\\/en\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/greatlakes-seaway.com\\\/en\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway System\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/greatlakes-seaway.com\\\/en\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/greatlakes-seaway.com\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/grandslacs-voiemaritime.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/06\\\/800x230-logo-en.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/grandslacs-voiemaritime.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/06\\\/800x230-logo-en.png\",\"width\":800,\"height\":230,\"caption\":\"Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway System\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/greatlakes-seaway.com\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Transiting the Seaway - Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway System","description":"What You Need to Know The following checklist will serve to provide a quick orientation of what steps are required to transit the St. Lawrence Seaway.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/greatlakes-seaway.com\/en\/commercial-shipping\/transiting-the-seaway\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Transiting the Seaway - Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway System","og_description":"What You Need to Know The following checklist will serve to provide a quick orientation of what steps are required to transit the St. Lawrence Seaway.","og_url":"https:\/\/greatlakes-seaway.com\/en\/commercial-shipping\/transiting-the-seaway\/","og_site_name":"Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway System","article_modified_time":"2026-02-05T15:24:48+00:00","og_image":[{"width":334,"height":330,"url":"https:\/\/greatlakes-seaway.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/300x300-logo-en.png","type":"image\/png"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_image":"https:\/\/greatlakes-seaway.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/300x300-logo-en.png","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/greatlakes-seaway.com\/en\/commercial-shipping\/transiting-the-seaway\/","url":"https:\/\/greatlakes-seaway.com\/en\/commercial-shipping\/transiting-the-seaway\/","name":"Transiting the Seaway - Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway System","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/greatlakes-seaway.com\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/greatlakes-seaway.com\/en\/commercial-shipping\/transiting-the-seaway\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/greatlakes-seaway.com\/en\/commercial-shipping\/transiting-the-seaway\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/greatlakes-seaway.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/us_flag.gif","datePublished":"2019-09-19T12:56:08+00:00","dateModified":"2026-02-05T15:24:48+00:00","description":"What You Need to Know The following checklist will serve to provide a quick orientation of what steps are required to transit the St. Lawrence Seaway.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/greatlakes-seaway.com\/en\/commercial-shipping\/transiting-the-seaway\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/greatlakes-seaway.com\/en\/commercial-shipping\/transiting-the-seaway\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/greatlakes-seaway.com\/en\/commercial-shipping\/transiting-the-seaway\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/greatlakes-seaway.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/us_flag.gif","contentUrl":"https:\/\/greatlakes-seaway.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/us_flag.gif"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/greatlakes-seaway.com\/en\/commercial-shipping\/transiting-the-seaway\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/greatlakes-seaway.com\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Commercial Shipping","item":"https:\/\/greatlakes-seaway.com\/en\/commercial-shipping\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Transiting the Seaway"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/greatlakes-seaway.com\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/greatlakes-seaway.com\/en\/","name":"Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway System","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/greatlakes-seaway.com\/en\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/greatlakes-seaway.com\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/greatlakes-seaway.com\/en\/#organization","name":"Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway System","url":"https:\/\/greatlakes-seaway.com\/en\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/greatlakes-seaway.com\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/grandslacs-voiemaritime.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/800x230-logo-en.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/grandslacs-voiemaritime.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/800x230-logo-en.png","width":800,"height":230,"caption":"Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway System"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/greatlakes-seaway.com\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/greatlakes-seaway.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/125","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/greatlakes-seaway.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/greatlakes-seaway.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greatlakes-seaway.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greatlakes-seaway.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=125"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/greatlakes-seaway.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/125\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":49477,"href":"https:\/\/greatlakes-seaway.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/125\/revisions\/49477"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greatlakes-seaway.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/18"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/greatlakes-seaway.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=125"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}