Port Of Milwaukee News

Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson has selected Jackie Q. Carter to serve as Municipal Port Director. In this position, Carter will direct commercial and recreational operations at Port Milwaukee, oversee a staff of twenty people, and administer Foreign Trade Zone No. 41. The appointment is subject to Common Council approval.A lifelong resident of Milwaukee, Carter has worked in the local non-profit and public sector for more than 20 years. She most recently served as the Finance & Administration Officer for Port Milwaukee…

Multiple agencies are responding to prevent any potential environmental damages after a tug partially sank at its moorings on the Kinnickinnic River in Port Milwaukee.The Coast Guard said its watchstanders at Sector Lake Michigan were notified by the National Response Center at 11:27 a.m. on Monday that the vessel Michigan, part of an articulated tug and barge (ATB) unit, began taking on water and partially sank in 26 feet of water.Photos shared by the Coast Guard earlier this week show the stern of the 115-foot-long tug submerged while its bow remains above the waterline…

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s (USDOT) Maritime Administration (MARAD) announced that it has awarded more than $280 million in discretionary grant funding through the new Port Infrastructure Development Program. This funding is designed to improve port facilities at or near coastal seaports.The Port Infrastructure Development Program supports efforts by ports and industry stakeholders to improve facility and freight infrastructure to ensure our nation’s freight transportation needs, present and future, are met.

A coalition of maritime business and industry organizations sent a letter to key Members of Congress on Friday, March 24 urging funding for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) to further support efforts undertaken by the State of Illinois to slow, stop and reverse the migration of Asian carp, an aquatic invasive species, through cost-effective measures. In the letter, the UnLock Our Jobs (UOJ) coalition members review the record of success that the GLRI has had in working with the State of Illinois to develop a range of strategies to control Asian carp…

“The Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway System saw a steady flow of traditional cargoes during the month of October,” said Betty Sutton, Administrator of the Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation. “Last month, shipments of aluminum, steel, generators, crane components, iron ore and containerized goods moved in the system. Thanks to a robust U.S and Canadian grain crop, agricultural products including corn, soy beans, wheat and sugar beet pellets made up the majority of the…

“Notable increases were reflected in the export of wheat, corn and soybeans from the U.S. Ports of Duluth, Milwaukee and Toledo during the month of September,” said Betty Sutton, Administrator of the Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation. “The good news is that we anticipate that trend to continue for the remaining three months of the 2016 navigation season.”  Also notable were shipments of aluminum and project cargo consisting of crane components, machinery, and transformers.

“We are about half-way through the 2016 navigation season and our overall cargo tonnage numbers are down by 11 percent,” said Betty Sutton, Administrator of the Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation. Sutton added, “Aluminum shipments supporting the automotive industry played a significant role in activity at the ports of Oswego, NY, Toledo, OH and Detroit, MI. We also saw wind energy parts moving through the Port of Ogdensburg, NY, headed for the new Jericho Rise Wind Farm project in upstate New York.

While U.S. ports have been busy, overall the beginning of the shipping season has been slower than anticipated. “Although the overall cargo numbers remain down when compared to the same time frame last year, in June we were above the five-year average,” said Betty Sutton, Administrator of the Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation. “Imports arriving in the Great Lakes Seaway System kept longshoremen busy during the month of June. About 45 ships arrived from 19 different countries with high value cargo like windmill components, machinery, aluminum ingots, steel, sugar, and general cargo.

The St. Lawrence Seaway opened two weeks earlier this shipping season and U.S. ports took advantage of the warm weather to move cargo for their customers. Betty Sutton, Administrator of the U.S. Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation said, “During the first nine weeks of the 2016 navigation season, ships arrived from 30 countries and delivered high value cargo that supported a wide range of manufacturing. Our longshoremen worked diligently to offload cargo ships delivering transformers bound for electric power companies…

“Agricultural commodities along with dry bulk, general cargo and containerized goods continued to enhance cargo tonnage on the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Seaway System during the month of November,” said Betty Sutton, Administrator of the Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation. The general cargo dock operated by Midwest Terminals had a good month of November at the Port of Toledo. “The ability to handle a diverse array of cargo at this large facility with new material handling equipment is really helping move the economy of Northwest Ohio forward…

As ongoing commodity price pressures continued to impact overall tonnage volumes through the St. Lawrence Seaway in September, the shipping industry was buoyed by a number of investments in recent weeks by ship operators and ports, according to the Chamber of Marine Commerce, an association representing Canadian and American marine industry stakeholders. “Despite slower iron ore and coal, growth continues on the Seaway in shipments for domestic sectors like construction, salt mining, agriculture and manufacturing,” said Stephen Brooks, President of the Chamber of Marine Commerce.

June was an active month for U.S. ports receiving a variety of general cargo shipments through the St. Lawrence Seaway. “What’s notable about the June tonnage numbers were increases in the export of U.S. grain to Europe and the import of aluminum and steel to the ports of Cleveland, Toledo, Oswego, Detroit, and Burns Harbor. Cargo activity like this is a true reflection of just how hard our port representatives are working to market their operations to current and potential customers worldwide,” said Betty Sutton, Administrator of the Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation.

Even with a blip due to ice coverage in late March and early April, U.S. ports along the Great Lakes-Seaway System are tracking ahead of tonnage moved in April 2014. In fact, most ports are seeing increases in multiple categories. “In 2015 we are excited to continue the momentum from 2014 when we finished the season with a 20 percent increase in overall tonnage,” said Paul Toth, President and CEO of the Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority. “There has been a good mix of marine cargo traffic early on in 2015,” said Joe Cappel, Vice President of Business Development for the Port Authority.

The U.S. Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation (SLSDC) has announced that eight U.S. ports in the Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway System are receiving the prestigious Robert J. Lewis Pacesetter Award. The awards were given for registering increases in international cargo tonnage shipped through their ports during the 2014 navigation season compared to the previous year. The eight winners of the Pacesetter Award for 2014 are: the Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Port Authority…

The Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation (SLSDC) announced that eight Great Lakes Seaway System ports are receiving the prestigious Robert J. Lewis Pacesetter Award for registering increases in international cargo tonnage shipped through their ports during the 2012 navigation season compared to the previous year. “The continued increases in the amount of cargo moving through U.S ports is another strong indicator of our growing economy,” said U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood. “In his first State of the Union address, President Obama called on us to double our exports by 2015, and our nation’s ports will play a large role in meeting that goal.

Despite a downturn in overall cargo movements through the St. Lawrence Seaway in July (down 12.5% over 2012), new cargos and new vessels signaled continued confidence in the future of the navigation system. Several U.S. ports welcomed a variety of heavy lift cargos destined for projects throughout the region. “Twice during July, McKeil Marine Ltd. has called at the Port of Monroe to deliver heavy-lift industrial components,” said Monroe port director Paul LaMarre. “These project pieces were manufactured by Cherubini Metal Workers Ltd in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia and will be installed in the last of four Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) Units at DTE Energy’s Monroe Power Plant.

Great Lakes Shipyard Completes First Repair Contract with a Canadian Tug-Barge Company. McKeil Marine of Hamilton, Ontario contracted Great Lakes Shipyard to provide winter layup and repair work on their tug and barge, John Spence and Niagara Spirit. The Shipyard completed general steel work on both the tug and barge and installed a winch system for the cover of the Niagara Spirit. The completion of this contract marks the first major repair contract that Great Lakes Shipyard has had with a Canadian company.

The Ontario Ministry of Transportation (MTO) has awarded a contract for the five-year drydocking of the M/V Pelee Islander to Great Lakes Shipyard, Cleveland, Ohio. The  Pelee Islander will arrive at Great Lakes Shipyard in early April and will be hauled-out using the Shipyard’s new 700-metric ton Marine Travelift. Work will include hull inspection and painting; propeller, shaft, and rudder inspection; steel work; and other routine maintenance. The M/V Pelee Islander is a passenger ferry operated by Owen Sound Transportation Company, an Agency of the Province of Ontario Ministry of Northern Development, Mines and Forestry, and provides transportation services between Kingsville, Leamington, Ontario; Pelee Island, Ontario; and Sandusky, Ohio.

The Great Lakes Towing Company has commenced a major overhaul program for its Great Lakes fleet of 37 harbor assist tugboats. The ILLINOIS is the first of the Company’s tugs to undergo this overhaul at the Company’s new Cleveland shipyard. The new 770-ton Travelift; the largest on the Great Lakes, second largest in the Western Hemisphere, and the third largest in the World; permits the yard to “dry dock” on land several vessels at a time. The Great Lakes Towing Company operates the largest fleet of tugs on the Great Lakes serving 40 ports and has been in continuous business for 113 years.

Westlawn Institute of Technology, the not-for-profit educational affiliate of the American Boat & Yacht Council (ABYC), welcomed RADM Gordon G. Piché USCG (Ret.) as Dean of Naval Architecture. Piché was also elected to Westlawn’s Board of Directors. Piché is a graduate of the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, with a BSE in general engineering. He holds an MSE in naval architecture and marine engineering and an MSE in engineering mechanics from the University of Michigan. “Gordon has already contributed highly important technical reviews to Westlawn’s new general structural engineering text as well as to a new aluminum text that is in the drafting phase, and to the student technical reference manual,” said Dave Gerr, Westlawn Director.

The St. Lawrence Seaway reported that year-to-date cargo shipments of more than 24 million metric tons moved through the system for the period March 28 to September 30 – an increase of nearly 5 percent over September 2013. U.S. grain continued its upward trend posting a 14.6 percent increase over the same time last year. “Cargo tonnage moved through the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Seaway System during the month of September continues to be robust and reflects positively on the economy and the shipping industry,” said Administrator Betty Sutton of the Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation.

While the 2013 shipping season saw overall fluctuating cargo figures, U.S. ports on the Great Lakes have continued to outperform their initial projections. The St. Lawrence Seaway reported that year-to-date total cargo shipments for the period March 22 to November 30 were 33 million metric tons, down 6% over the same period in 2012. "The shipping industry in the Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway System relied heavily on our terminal operators and longshoremen this month as they loaded and unloaded ships full of steel…

On the Saint Lawrence Seaway, the binational waterway we operate in partnership with Canada, the end of the calendar year also means the end of the navigation season. And 2013 was another busy year on the Seaway. In fact, activity at our Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation in Massena, NY, never slows down, even after the locks are closed. Because when the navigation season ends, the repair, maintenance, and upgrade work begins. And 2013 was no different as we continued our Asset Renewal Program.