Slsdc News

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation (SLSDC) announced it has taken delivery of its new 118-foot icebreaking tug, the Seaway Guardian, in Massena, N.Y. Built by Gulf Island Shipyards in Houma, La., the vessel is the first new tug to join SLSDC since the Seaway opened 61 years ago.The new $24 million tug will primarily be used for buoy maintenance and ice management on the St. Lawrence Seaway, replacing the long-serving 62-year-old Robinson Bay, which the SLSDC will maintain as backup.

German propulsion manufacturer SCHOTTEL said it has been selected to equip a newly built harbor tugboat for the Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation (SLSDC) with medium-sized azimuth thrusters. The vessel is under construction at the U.S. shipyard Washburn & Doughty in Maine. The HT-60, the smallest in the harbor tug series developed by the Seattle-based naval architecture firm Glosten, is scheduled for delivery in 2021.Craig Middlebrook, Deputy Administrator of the SLSDC, said, “This new vessel will be used to carry out a variety of construction and maintenance duties for the U.S.

The Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation (SLSDC) has placed an order for a newbuild ASD (Z-drive) harbor tug to be delivered by Washburn & Doughty Associates, Inc. of East Boothbay, Maine.Craig Middlebrook, Deputy Administrator of the SLSDC, said, “This new vessel will be used to carry out a variety of construction and maintenance duties for the US portion of the St. Lawrence Seaway, including routine maintenance of lock gates, maintenance and positioning of aids to navigation…

U.S. Department of Transportation Announces Hands-Free Mooring Technology Fully Operational at all St. Lawrence Seaway Locks.The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation (SLSDC) today announced that Hands-Free Mooring (HFM) technology is fully deployed throughout the Saint Lawrence Seaway. The new technology revolutionizes the method for locking vessels through the Seaway and is the most important technological advance since the Seaway’s opening in 1959.“This new technology is a significant modernization of the St.

The Automatic Identification System (AIS) was developed with the sole goal of improving maritime safety by allowing ships in proximity to one another to automatically exchange information regarding their name, course, speed, type, cargo, etc. The exchange of this information would allow conning officers on each ship to make better decisions regarding the possibility of close encounters and the need to change course and/or speed. It would also make it easier for one ship to contact the other by radio-telephone to hopefully remove any doubt. To that extent, AIS has largely worked as intended, although collisions continue to occur.It did not take long, though, for governments to get involved.

On June 22, 2018, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) issued a federal government reorganization proposal entitled “Delivering Government Solutions in the 21st Century”. The 132-page document is subtitled ‘Reform Plan and Reorganization Recommendations’. I have not read the entire report, but I have examined those portions that relate to maritime issues. I find those portions to be uniformly ill-advised.Associate Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. once wrote: “A page of history is worth a volume of logic.”  The authors of this proposal should brush up on their history.

Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation (SLSDC) has awarded a construction contract for a new TundRA 3600 ice class tug to shipbuilder Gulf Island Fabrication, to be built at their yard in Jennings, La. The SLSDC is a wholly owned U.S. government corporation tasked with operating and maintaining the St. Lawrence Seaway between Massena, N.Y. and Lake Ontario, within the territorial limits of the United States. The tug, which will be based in Massena, N.Y., will primarily operate between the Snell and Eisenhower locks with typical duties including icebreaking/ice-management services…

The U.S. Coast Guard and the Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation are responding to the motor vessel Pacific Huron, loaded with soybean, that ran aground late Wednesday in the Saint Lawrence Seaway near Wellesley Island, New York. The forward portion of the 623-foot motor vessel is aground and their stern anchor is deployed. The vessel is 1,000 feet outside of the channel. There are no reported injuries to the crew, and no reported leaks, pollution, or flooding on the vessel. The seaway is continuing to manage traffic around the vessel through the navigation channel. Inspectors from the SLSDC, the Canadian St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation and a marine inspector from the Coast Guard Marine Safety Detachment Massena…

The U.S. Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation (SLSDC) and the Canadian St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation have jointly marked the opening of the Seaway’s 59th navigation season. The official opening ceremony of the binational waterway took place on March 20 at the St. Lambert Lock in Montreal with Canadian Transport Minister Marc Garneau attending as honored guest and SLSMC President and CEO Terence Bowles and SLSDC Deputy Administrator Craig H. Middlebrook addressing the gathering. “The Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway System is a tremendous asset that provides a safe and efficient means of moving cargo worldwide,” said U.S. Secretary of Transportation Elaine L. Chao.

Buoyed by increasing returns from its creation of the Cleveland-Europe Express (CEE) liner service, the Port of Cleveland continued to see record numbers in August, particularly in containerized cargo, the port announced. While numbers for containers were up 300 percent through June, traffic has continued to accelerate at an even greater pace since, according to the port. Compared to figures through August 2014, this year's increase now stands at 475 percent. The overall growth produced by the CEE is "quite exceptional and a breakthrough in St.

The Port of Cleveland informs it has been awarded by the U.S. Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation (SLSDC) for its international cargo growth. The Robert J. Lewis 2014 Pacesetter award, presented to the port by the SLSDC this morning at its monthly board meeting, recognizes growth in international cargo, generated by the port’s Cleveland Europe Express (CEE) liner service and its traditional line of non-containerized steel cargo. Operated by Dutch ship owner Spliethoff Group, the CEE provides the Great Lakes only scheduled maritime access to European markets.

Vessel previously grounded in St. Lawrence Seaway refloated, navigational channel open. The vessel ran hard aground after suffering a steering casualty, and at this time there is no pollution reported. The motor vessel Juno, a 621-foot bulk carrier which ran agound in the vicinity of Wellesley Island in the St. Lawrence River, New York, was refloated about 7 a.m. Wednesday and is now safely anchored at Mason Point. At 8 a.m. the Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation re-opened the American Narrows to full navigation. The Bahamian-flagged motor vessel Juno, carrying a load of sugar, ran aground Monday reportedly due to a loss of steering and took on water in one of the forward ballast tanks…

UPDATE: U.S. Coast Guard responding to vessel aground in St. The U.S. Coast Guard reports it is continuing its response Tuesday to a 621-foot bulk carrier which ran aground in the vicinity of Wellesley Island in the St. Lawrence River, New York, Monday while transiting inbound from the St. Lawrence Seaway to the Port of Toronto. The Bahamian-flagged motor vessel Juno, carrying a load of sugar, is aground and taking on water in one of the forward ballast tanks, however, these tanks were empty prior to the grounding, and there has been no report of pollution.

A 621-foot bulk carrier ran aground near Wellesley Island in the St. Lawrence River, Monday. The U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) is responding. The Bahamian-flagged motor vessel Juno is aground in the vicinity of Wellesley Island, in the St. Lawrence River, New York, and is taking on water in one of the forward ballast tanks. The vessel is slightly listing to port with 18-feet of water in the forward peak of the vessel. There are no reported injuries to the crew, and no reported pollution. The ship was transiting a sugar cargo inbound from the St.

The U.S. and Canadian Seaway Corporations marked the opening of the Seaway's 57th navigation season today, with the transit of the newly-built CWB Marquis through the St. Lambert Lock. The vessel is the first of two Equinox-class lakers ordered by Winnipeg-based grain marketer CWB that are being purpose-built for trade in the Great Lakes Seaway System. In 2014, over 12 million tons of grain moved through the Seaway, the highest volume recorded since the beginning of the 21st century. Ian White, President and CEO of CWB, served as the keynote speaker at the opening.

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…

Under agreement with the U.S. Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation, The St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation is proposing to amend the joint Practices and Procedures (known as regulations within the SLSDC).   The text of the amended Practices and Procedures is included below:  Notice of Proposed Revisions to Seaway Practices and Procedures to be Effective March 31, 2015 (PDF document).   Any comments with respect to these proposed amendments should be directed to Jean Aubry-Morin, Vice President, External Relations, no later than March 16, 2015.

U.S. ports throughout the Great Lakes uniformly saw increased tonnage in several cargo categories during the monthof June 2014, according to news excerpted from The American Great Lakes Ports Association (AGLPA). "Salt, chemicals, and steel all posted excellent tonnage numbers through June when compared to last year's figures," said Rebecca Spruill, director of trade development for the SLSDC. "We're rapidly making up ground for the slow start to the season imposed by a winter lasting well into April. U.S. "Industry spirits were buoyed by strong gains in cargo movements during the month of June," noted Vanta Coda, Duluth Seaway Port Authority executive director. "We had two ships from Europe arrive loaded with energy-related project cargo destined for North Dakota and Alberta, Canada.

Incident responders from the Coast Guard and representatives from the Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation completed the salvage of the freighter that lost power and ran aground in the St. Lawrence Seaway, Tuesday, and have reopened the seaway to all vessel traffic as of 7:30 p.m., Thursday. The motor vessel Federal Kivalina was removed from its resting spot near the Thousand Island Bridge by a contracted salvage crew and two tugs from Montreal. Coast Guard personnel approved the salvage plan early Thursday afternoon and the salvage team immediately went to work to remove the vessel. Upon the safe removal of the Federal Kivalina, the SLSDC reopened the seaway to all vessel traffic, which had been shut down for more than two days.

Incident responders from the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) and representatives from the Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation continue to oversee the salvage and investigation of the disabled freighter that ran aground after losing steering Tuesday while transiting the St. Lawrence Seaway in the vicinity of Wellesley Island, New York. The motor vessel Federal Kivalina is currently anchored upriver, about one-third of a mile from the Thousand Island Bridge. There are no reported injuries to the crew and no reported pollution at this time.

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation (SLSDC) today joined the Port of Cleveland in announcing the launch of the Port of Cleveland’s Express Ocean Freight Service. The new service will run between the Port of Cleveland and Antwerp, Belgium via the Saint Lawrence Seaway and is the first regularly scheduled international cargo shipping service to a U.S. port on the Great Lakes in decades. “Our ports play a critical role in freight movement…

U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx today announced the appointment of 10 new members to the Marine Transportation System National Advisory Council (MTSNAC). Established in 2010, MTSNAC is comprised of leaders from commercial transportation firms, trade associations, state and local public entities, labor organizations, academics, and environmental groups that advise the Secretary on policies to ensure that the U.S. Marine Transportation System is capable of responding to projected trade increases.

Under agreement with the U.S. Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation, The St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation is proposing to amend the joint Practices and Procedures (known as "regulations" within the SLSDC). Gyro compass error greater than 2 degrees must be serviced prior to transiting the Seaway, if noted during a Seaway transit, it must be reported to the nearest Seaway station and the gyro compass must be serviced at first opportunity. When magnetic compass error is greater than 5 degrees…