Superior Midwest Energy Terminal News

Last night’s arrival of United States Coast Guard Cutters Alder and Mackinaw signaled that the 2019 commercial shipping season is soon to commence for the Port of Duluth-Superior and the entire region.The Alder and Mackinaw made their way across Lake Superior from Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, opening a 100-foot lane in the ice that will be widened soon by Canadian Coast Guard Ship Samuel Risley in support of breakout efforts that will also include local tugs from the Great Lakes Towing Company and Heritage Marine.

The 2017 Great Lakes shipping season begins today when the U.S.-flag tug/barge unit Dorothy Ann/Pathfinder departs her winter lay-up berth in Erie, Pa., and sails to Cleveland, Ohio, where she will initiate the shuttle of iron ore from Cleveland Bulk Terminal to the ArcelorMittal steel mill at the end of the navigable portion of the Cuyahoga River on Wednesday. The vessel will load approximately 15,000 tons that was mined from Minnesota’s Mesabi Iron Range. The next vessel to get underway will be the cement carrier Bradshaw McKee/St. Marys Conquest on March 1.

The first two U.S.-flag lakers are on schedule to depart the Port of Duluth-Superior Tuesday, March 22, signaling the start of the 2016 commercial shipping season at this, the farthest inland port on the Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway (GLSLS) system. Shortly after 7 a.m., the Edwin H. Gott, is scheduled to move from its winter berth at the Clure Public Marine Terminal – first to fuel, then to depart mid-morning beneath Duluth’s famed Aerial Bridge en route to the CN Dock in Two Harbors to load iron ore pellets. Shortly thereafter, another ship in the Great Lakes Fleet, the Philip R.

At 12:01 a.m. on Wednesday, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers officially opened the Soo Locks for the start of the 2015 Great Lakes shipping season. The locks at Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan are among 16 locks that form the Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway navigation system which extends from Duluth, Minnesota to the Atlantic Ocean via the St. Lawrence Seaway. Together these 16 locks lift or lower ships 600 feet - the height of a 60 story building. Since the Soo Locks closed in January, the Corps has been busy executing winter maintenance, repair and rehabilitation projects. In total, the agency spent $9.5 million on various projects to enhance the reliability of the Poe and MacArthur Locks.

Despite the chilly temperatures and heavy snowfall the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers opened the Soo Locks for the start of the Great Lakes shipping season. The Edwin H. Gott, a 1,004-foot freighter, was the first ship to enter the Poe Lock. The Gott was followed by the Roger Blough, with both ships going upbound into Lake Superior to collect iron ore. The locks at Sault Saint Marie, Michigan are among 16 locks that form the St. Lawrence Seaway navigation system, which extends from Duluth, to the Atlantic Ocean. "We're looking forward to the new shipping season," said Mark Barker, president of the Interlake Steamship Company based in Ohio. Since the Soo Locks closed in January, the Army Corps of Engineers has spent 9.5 million dollars on repairs. The St.

Shipments of coal on the Great Lakes totaled 24.6 million tons in 2013, a decrease of 2.8 percent compared to 2012. Some of the decrease can be attributed to the early onset of winter in December, which lead to a 17-percent decrease in loadings on Lake Superior. Individual cargos were further reduced toward the end of the month when vessels voluntarily lightened their drafts to ease transits through an ice-clogged stretch of the St. Marys River that connects Lake Superior to the lower Great Lakes. One 1,000-foot-long vessel experienced a 4,474-ton reduction in payload when its first and last cargos of December were compared. For the year, coal loadings at Lake Superior terminals totaled 15 million tons, a decrease of 62,000 tons compared to 2012.

Shipments of coal on the Great Lakes totaled 3,049,705 tons in September, an increase of 6.3 percent compared to August, but a drop of 10.1 percent compared to a year ago. Compared to the month’s 5-year average, loadings were down 14.5 percent. Overseas shipments from Superior, Wisconsin, continued in September. Coal shipped to Québec City for reloading into oceangoing vessels totaled 192,000 tons. For the season, the overseas trade from Superior Midwest Energy Terminal totals 1,173,000 tons.

Shipments of coal on the Great Lakes totaled 2.6 million tons in June, a decrease of 9.7 percent compared to May, and a drop of nearly 13 percent compared to a year ago. Some of the decrease was the result of a lengthy outage at the Lakes’ largest coal-shipping operation, Superior Midwest Energy Terminal in Superior, Wisconsin. Flooding after a torrential storm forced shipments to cease on June 19. The dock resumed loading on July 8. Overseas shipments continued in June. Coal shipped to Quebec City for reloading into oceangoing vessels totaled 246,000 tons.

A 40% drop in cargo movement in December wiped out earlier gains and produced a 3% decrease in U.S.-Flag shipping on the Great Lakes in 2008. The 101 million net tons of dry-bulk cargo transported by U.S.-Flag lakers in 2008 also represented a 4.5% decrease from the trade’s 5-year average. The iron ore trade finished in a virtual tie with a year ago – 47.2 million net tons. Yet as late as November, shipments of iron ore in U.S. hulls were up by 2.2 million net tons. The iron ore trade crumbled in December. At 25 million net tons, coal shipments represent a small decrease from 2007. However, the 18 million net tons of low sulfur coal loaded at Superior Midwest Energy Terminal in Superior, Wisconsin set a new benchmark for the U.S.-Flag Lakes fleet.

Coal shipments on the Great Lakes totaled 4.1 million net tons in November, an increase of 21 percent compared to a year ago. Shipments were also up nearly 7 compared to the month’s 5-year average. Shipments of low-sulfur coal from Superior Midwest Energy Terminal in Superior, Wisconsin, accounted for most of the increase. Nonetheless, the dredging crisis continued to hamper shipments. Not one coal cargo topped65,000 tons in November, and many were in the 63,000-ton range. If the Great Lakes were dredged to allow for full loads, some vessels would be carrying as much as 71,000 tons each trip, but the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers estimates it needs to remove 17 million cubic yards of sediment system-wide before vessels can utilize 100 percent of their rated capacity.

Superior Midwest Energy Terminal (SMET) in Superior, Wis., loaded 2,548,173 net tons of coal in July, a new record for the most coal to be shipped by a single dock in one month in the entire history of Great Lakes shipping. The previous peak was 2,468,619 net tons loaded at the Chesapeake & Ohio dock in Toledo in October 1946. Before that, the record was held by Sandusky - 2,200,737 net tons in October 1944. For the season, coal loadings at SMET stand at 8,208,187 net tons, essentially the same level as a year ago.

Dry-bulk cargo movement on the Great Lakes totaled 162.3 million net tons in 2002, a decrease of 1.4 percent compared to 2001 and a drop of 6 percent compared to the 5-year average. Iron ore shipments totaled 58.9 million net tons in 2002, an increase of 5.8 percent compared to 2001, but a decrease of 9.2 percent compared to the 5-year average. North American raw steel production totaled an estimated 101.7 million tons in 2002, an increase of 2.4 percent compared to 2001, but the amount of steel made in Basic Oxygen Furnaces that turn pellets into hot metal fell 4 percent to an estimated 50.1 million net tons. The Lakes iron ore trade was essentially non-stop in 2002.