Great Lakes Port News

The state of Great Lakes port infrastructure is one of the biggest issues facing the U.S. and Canadian maritime industries. According to the America Great Lakes Ports Association, “Due to years of inadequate funding, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has been unable to maintain Great Lakes navigation infrastructure. Over the next five years Great Lakes navigation channels will require $540 million of dredging to maintain authorized channel dimensions. Breakwaters and other federal…

The White House announced President Biden's appointment of former Milwaukee port director, Adam Tindall-Schlicht, as the next Administrator of the Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation (GLS). Tindall-Schlicht resigned his position at Port Milwaukee on October 19.An agency of the U.S. Department of Transportation, the GLS is responsible for operation of U.S. portions of the St. Lawrence Seaway. It works in partnership with it's Canadian counterpart to maintain a safe…

Freshwater ecosystems are threatened by a host of environmental stressors from human activities. Among the most insidious and impactful of these is invasion by non-native species.Over the past two centuries, established populations of nearly 190 non-native species of invertebrates, fishes, plants and microbes have been discovered in the Great Lakes basin. They were introduced through several sources and pathways including canals, pet release, bait bucket dumping, aquaculture escapes…

A lack of Coast Guard icebreaking assets is hampering U.S.-flag shipping on the Great Lakes, according to industry coalition the Great Lakes Maritime Task Force.“The inefficiency introduced into the Great Lakes Navigation System by inadequate Coast Guard icebreaking resources impacts the carriers, their customers and the entire North American Manufacturing supply chain,” said Jim Weakley, President of Great Lakes Maritime Task Force, and the Lake Carriers’ Association. “The men and women of the U.S. Coast Guard do the best they can with the resources they are provided.

U.S.-flag Great Lakes shipping companies continue to invest heavily in their ships and the region.This year alone these companies will spend nearly $87 million for winter ship repair and maintenance work at shipyards and facilities across the Great Lakes. That includes more than $36 million in Wisconsin, $33 million in Ohio, $13 million in Pennsylvania, and over $4 million in Michigan. The work includes replacing steel plating, engine overhauls, navigation equipment updates, and conveyor belt repairs and replacements.The conveyor belt work is critical as the U.S.

“…We have built our reputation job by job, boat by boat, and tow by tow, and we intend to continue to do so.”The Great Lakes Towing Company (GLT) and the Great Lakes Shipyard are core businesses within The Great Lakes Group of Companies, based in Cleveland, on the Old River, a shipping channel that runs west from where the Cuyahoga River meets Lake Erie. Company towing operations extend from Buffalo, N.Y. in the east to Duluth, Minn. in the west. Great Lakes Towing owns and operates the largest U.S.-flagged tugboat fleet on the Great Lakes, serving more than 35 ports in all eight U.S.

More than $220 million in discretionary grant funding has been awarded to improve U.S. port facilities in 16 states and territories through the Maritime Administration’s (MARAD) Port Infrastructure Development Program, U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Elaine L. Chao announced Thursday.“This $220 million in federal grants will improve America’s ports with nearly half the projects are located in Opportunity Zones, which were established to revitalize economically distressed communities,” said U.S. Secretary of Transportation Elaine L.

The first ocean-going vessel of 2020 arrived Monday at the Port of Indiana-Burns Harbor, thereby commencing this year's international shipping season at the Great Lakes port.Port officials welcomed the M/V Muntgracht, a 466-foot general cargo carrier, after her five-day voyage through the St. Lawrence Seaway to the deepwater port on Lake Michigan. Due to the current global pandemic precautions, the ceremonial Steel Stein, a long-running tradition at the port, was canceled this…

Port of Cleveland President & CEO and newly elected Board Chairman of the American Association of Port Authorities William Friedman weighs in this month on the Port of Cleveland and its role in the all important Great Lakes trades.When the American Association of Port Authorities (AAPA) announced the election of Port of Cleveland President and CEO, William D. Friedman, to serve as chairman for the 2018-19 year, beginning this October, it was perhaps a conscious decision to tap someone who has a broad range of experience and skills in myriad ports, large and small. That’s Friedman in a nutshell. AAPA represents 140 of the leading maritime port authorities in this hemisphere. If you’ve seen one port; well, you’ve seen one port.

The Board of Trustees for the Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Port Authority today unanimously elected Chris Ronayne as new board chair. As President and CEO of University Circle, Inc., which oversees the growth and direction of one of Ohio’s fastest growing employment district, Ronayne has led planning, development, education, marketing, police, and other shared services for the district over a decade of sustained growth. “I'm truly looking forward to leveraging the economic power of the Port of Cleveland to create more jobs for Cleveland and Northeast Ohio,” said Ronayne.

The Port of Cleveland and Amsterdam-based Spliethoff Group announced today their mutual intent to add a second monthly vessel to the Cleveland-Europe Express (CEE), the only scheduled ocean service for containerized and breakbulk freight operating between Europe and a Great Lakes port. "We are extremely pleased to announce our intent to add a second sailing to the CEE starting next season or perhaps sooner to better accommodate the needs of the containerized segment of the market, which requires more frequent sailings," said Will Friedman, CEO of the Port of Cleveland.

The US Coast Guard say that the 'Fortunagracht', a 450-foot Dutch-flagged container ship, has delivered the first-ever load of containerized cargo to the Great Lakes. Before the establishment of the Cleveland-Europe Express, shippers relied heavily on rail service to transport goods from the larger east coast container ports, such as New York and Baltimore, to the Great Lakes region. Talks to bring CEE to Cleveland began in the fall with cooperation between the Coast Guard, Customs and Border Protection, the FBI and other government agencies.

U.S. ports continued to post positive tonnage numbers in October. The Seaway’s year-to-date total cargo shipments from March 22 to October 31 were 29 million metric tons, up 2 percent from the same period last year. “With just two months left in the 2011 navigation season, the Seaway is on track to meet its projected seven percent improvement over last year’s tonnage performance,” says Rebecca Spruill, Director of Trade Development for the Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation.

Short-sea shipping, also referred to as the “Marine Highway” and, in some cases, “coastal shipping,” is the subject of more studies than we can list. Whatever the label, the concept refers to an initiative to get freight off our roadways, which are at capacity, and onto our waterways, which have to yet to be tapped to their potential. More than likely you’ve heard about the promises of this mode of transport, including reduced highway congestion, reduced consumption of fuel and fewer emissions per unit shipped. So what’s the hold up?

The Port of Indiana-Burns Harbor opens its 40th shipping season on April 9 with the arrival of the first international vessel – the Iryda. For 40 years, this Great Lakes port has provided an international connection for local businesses to reach world markets. The first ship signifies the start of the shipping season, the arrival of vital materials for local business and the start of another work season for longshoremen, crane operators, truckers and businesses that depend on the port. The Iryda was built in 1999 in Chiba, Japan, located on Tokyo Bay. It brings roughly 9,000 tons of steel coils to the port from Ijmuiden, Holland. The ship made a stop in Cleveland on its way to Burns Harbor…

About 11,000 tons of Indiana-made steel will set sail for Spain. The Julietta arrived at the Port of Indiana-Burns Harbor and was being loaded with hot-rolled steel coils from Mittal Steel in East Chicago, Ind. This is the first export shipment of steel through the Port of Indiana since 2005. There were a few export steel shipments between 2003 and 2005 – just over 55,000 tons total. In 1995, the port handled an all-time high 243,000 tons of exported steel. The shipment is destined for Pasajes, Spain. Federal Marine Terminals, which serves as the port’s general cargo stevedore, will load the vessel today and tomorrow. Since the Port of Indiana also has year-round access to the inland river system…