Fourth Sea Coast News

A lack of U.S. Coast Guard icebreaking capacity is hindering shipping on the Great Lakes, a U.S. maritime industry coalition said on Thursday.During this year’s ice season, the U.S.-flag Great Lakes shipping industry lost the equivalent of a month due to delays in ice covered waters, according to the Great Lakes Maritime Task Force, which represents U.S.-flag vessel operators, shipboard and longshore unions, port authorities, cargo shippers, terminal operators, shipyards and other Great Lakes interests.

Ohio Congressman David Joyce (R) has been named a 2016 Great Lakes Legislator of the Year by the largest labor/management coalition representing shipping on America’s Fourth Sea Coast. Great Lakes Maritime Task Force (GLMTF) annually presents the award to legislators who have promoted shipping on the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway. Rep. Joyce received his award at a ceremony in Washington on April 12. “Rep. Joyce’s deep appreciation for Great Lakes shipping stems from having two major ports in his district, Ashtabula and Conneaut,” said Thomas Curelli, President of GLMTF in 2016. “Rep.

Too few icebreakers and lack of a second Poe-sized lock threaten shipping on the Great Lakes and St. Insufficient U.S. and Canadian icebreakers and reliance on a single Poe-sized lock to connect Lake Superior to the Lower Lakes and Seaway threaten the future of shipping on America’s Fourth Sea Coast warns Great Lakes Maritime Task Force (GLMTF) in its 2015 Annual Report released today. “Another near arctic winter significantly impacted navigation, and then a 20-day closure of…

An effort to remove the U.S.-build requirement from the Jones Act is being soundly rejected by Great Lakes Maritime Task Force, the largest labor/management coalition ever assembled to promote shipping on America’s Fourth Sea Coast. The Task Force said it sees no benefit to allowing foreign-built vessels to carry cargo between U.S. ports, but warns that nearly 60,000 jobs in the Great Lakes states will be sacrificed for no good reason if the amendment to the Keystone pipeline bill offered by Senator John McCain (R-Ariz.) is accepted.

House and Senate Bills Offer Hope for Lakes Dredging Crisis. Both the House of Representatives and the Senate have taken up legislation that could end the dredging crisis on the Great Lakes. H.R. 335 and S. 218 would require the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund (“HMTF”) to spend what it takes in each year for dredging on dredging. Currently, the HMTF spends only one of every two tax dollars it collects for dredging on dredging. The surplus, now approaching $7 billion, is used to mask the size of the Federal deficit rather than maintain the nation’s ports and waterways.

The end of the Great Lakes dredging crisis took a step closer to reality last week when the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 4348 and included a provision that could lead to substantially increased Great Lakes dredging funding. The amendment directs that all funding collected in the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund be spent on dredging each year. “Passage of H.R. 4348 with the Boustany amendment represents further progress in requiring that the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund monies all be spent on dredging each year…

The Administration’s proposal to slash the Great Lakes dredging budget by 32 percent in FY12 has the Great Lakes shipping industry declaring a State of Emergency. The Administration’s proposed appropriation for Lakes dredging next year will remove the smallest amount of sediment since the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers started keeping records more than half a century ago. As a result, only 11 of the 83 U.S ports on the Great Lakes will be dredged. “Never in my 51 years in this industry have I seen such a total abandonment of the Federal government’s responsibility to maintain the Great Lakes Navigation System,” said John D. Baker, President of Great Lakes Maritime Task Force, the largest labor/management coalition ever to promote shipping on America’s Fourth Sea Coast.

A commitment to ending the dredging crisis on the Great Lakes has earned Congresswoman Candice Miller (R-MI) an award as 2011 Great Lakes Legislator of the Year from the largest labor/management coalition representing workers and industries dependent on shipping on America’s Fourth Sea Coast. Rep. Miller, who represents Michigan’s 10th District in the House of Representatives, will formally receive the award from Great Lakes Maritime Task orce (“GLMTF”) in Washington on February 9.

According to the Great Lakes Maritime Task Force, Russia’s decision to suspend grain exports has ships throughout the world steering for the Great Lakes to load wheat and other staples. However, the Great Lakes Navigation System has unused capacity and can meet this unexpected demand. “Grain shipments through the Seaway in September increased 68 percent compared to a year ago,” said James H.I. Weakley, President of Great Lakes Maritime Task Force, the largest labor/management coalition ever to promote waterborne commerce via the Lakes/Seaway system. The surge in grain shipments is forecast to last until the St. Lawrence Seaway closes toward the end of December, and then could well resume in the spring.

The end of the dredging crisis on the Great Lakes moved a giant step closer today when a key House committee approved legislation requiring the federal government to spend all the tax dollars it collects for dredging on dredging rather than use nearly half to balance the budget - at least on paper. Section 2007 of H.R. 5892, the Water Resources Development Act of 2010, mandates that all tax revenues annually deposited in the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund (HMTF) be used to dredge the nation’s deep-draft ports and waterways. Because the government does not spend all the tax dollars it raises for dredging, the HMTF currently has a surplus of more than $5b.