Cuyahoga River News

The November edition of Marine News magazine highlighted the most notable newbuilds delivered in 2022. From sturdy and nimble workboats, to the first new Jones Act laker in a generation, each vessel on display showcases the industry’s engineering prowess and technological ingenuity, with the focus on improving efficiency in operations. The maritime industry has no shortage of challenges to overcome, and each of Marine News’ top vessels will, in one way or another, aid efforts to tackle them.Mark W.

The Interlake Steamship Company held a christening ceremony in Cleveland on Thursday for its new vessel, Mark W. Barker, the first U.S.-flagged freighter built on the Great lakes in nearly four decades.“This is truly a historic celebration for our company and for the United States maritime industry as we proudly christen the newest vessel to join the U.S. flag fleet on the Great Lakes and our first new build in 41 years,” said Mark W. Barker, President of The Interlake Steamship Company and the vessel’s namesake.

As the maritime industry faces numerous environmental and efficiency challenges, the future is ship automation and Wärtsilä Voyage is a driver. Sean Fernback, President, and Thomas Pedersen, Director, Automation & Dynamic Positioning, Wärtsilä Voyage discuss the path and the pace with Maritime Reporter TV.Sean, to start, it seems many define “autonomy” differently. How do you define Wärtsilä's smart-autonomy approach?Sean Fernback, President, Wärtsilä VoyageAutonomy is a journey and there is no question that, at some point, various vessels in different classes will be fully autonomous.

“…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.

The Interlake Steamship Company said its articulated tug-barge unit (ATB) Dorothy Ann-Pathfinder has departed winter layup on Saturday, February 24, to begin early-season shuttles of iron ore for ArcelorMittal, an integrated steel and mining company with blast furnaces at the head of the Cuyahoga River. A workhorse of Interlake’s nine-vessel fleet, the 700-foot Dorothy Ann-Pathfinder is one of Interlake’s two River-Class vessels, a designation given to ships that can traverse the narrowest harbors of the Great Lakes.

U.S.-flag Great Lakes vessel operators will spend $65 million maintaining and modernizing their vessels at Great Lakes shipyards this winter. When complete, the fleet will be ready to meet the needs of commerce come the spring break-out in March. “Winter is the one opportunity our members have to renew and upgrade their vessels,” said James H.I. Weakley, President of Lake Carriers’ Association, the trade association representing the major U.S.-flag carriers. The major focus this winter will be on normal maintenance such as overhauls of engines…

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 Lake Carriers’ Association (LCA) announced that the 2016 shipping season on the Great Lakes began on March 2 when the tug/barge unit Dorothy Ann/Pathfinder loaded 4,600 tons of iron ore at Cleveland Bulk Terminal for delivery to ArcelorMittal Cleveland at the end of the navigable portion of the Cuyahoga River. That much iron ore will keep the mill in operation for about one day. The vessel could have delivered another 4,100 tons, but the Cuyahoga River is notorious for silting up over the winter, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will not dredge the river again until mid-May. The next vessel to get underway will be the cement carrier G. L. Ostander/Integrity on March 7, LCA said.

The Interlake Steamship Company’s Dorothy Ann-Pathfinder, an articulated tug-barge unit (ATB), departs winter layup today to begin early-season shuttles of iron ore for ArcelorMittal, an integrated steel and mining company with blast furnaces at the head of the Cuyahoga River. A workhorse of Interlake’s nine-vessel fleet, the combined 711-foot Dorothy Ann-Pathfinder is one of Interlake’s two River-Class vessels, a designation given to ships that can traverse the narrowest harbors of the Great Lakes.

Shipments of iron ore on the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway totaled 6.6 million tons in July, a decrease of 9 percent compared to a year ago, the Lake Carriers’ Association (LCA) reported. The decline reflects that steel imports continue to command more than 30 percent of the U.S. market, according to the LCA, who added it takes approximately 1.5 tons of iron ore (and roughly 400 pounds of fluxstone) to make a ton of steel in a blast furnace, so every ton of unfairly traded steel takes cargo off the lakes. Shipments from U.S. ports totaled 5.7 million tons, a decrease of 14 percent compared to a year ago. Only one port, Cleveland, Ohio, saw its loadings outpace last July.

U.S. and Canadian vessel operators on the Great Lakes are urging the public to not participate in the Port Huron Float Down scheduled for August 16, the Lake Carriers’ Association (LCA) and Canadian Shipowners Association (CSA) said in a joint press release. The annual event, which fills the seven-mile stretch of the St. Clair River from Port Huron to Marysville with thousands of people in all manner of craft, is unsanctioned and unsafe, needlessly jeopardizing participants and hindering commercial navigation at the height of the shipping season, according to the associations.

Emergency responders from across Ohio gathered in Cleveland this week to participate in a preparedness response exercise. Exercises such as this one are designed to improve communication, planning and emergency response proficiency across local, state and federal agencies in the event of an oil spill in any navigable waterway, like the Cuyahoga River. "Today's exercise was a big success and an excellent opportunity for numerous agencies and organizations to gather and practice working together in a unified command setting," said Cmdr. Jerrel Russell, the commanding officer of the Coast Guard’s Marine Safety Unit Cleveland. The exercise was based on a scenario in which a large vessel hit a submerged object in the Cuyahoga River…

Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine's office filed suit Tuesday against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for its plan either to place dredge material from Cleveland Harbor in Lake Erie or refrain from dredging the entire navigation channel unless a non-federal partner pays to place it in confined disposal facilities. The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Cleveland, alleges that the Corps -- which has already agreed to help dredge and dispose of sediment for five miles of the six-mile channel -- is violating federal law by asking that a "non-federal partner" pay more than $1.4 million to dispose of 180,000 cubic yards worth of sediment from the channel's sixth mile.

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.

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.

The board of the Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Port Authority voted today to accept an annual budget for 2015. The budget includes $20 million in capital investments to enhance maritime operations and sediment management. The port’s balance sheet also allows it to continue investing in its European liner service, Cleveland-Europe Express (CEE), which was launched in April. The port is expanding CEE service in 2015 to two sailings a month between Antwerp and Cleveland, as announced in September.

Great Lakes Shipyard has been awarded a contract for routine drydocking of the M/V Nautica Queen. The cruise vessel was hauled out using the 770-ton capacity Marine Travelift at Great Lakes Shipyard on Monday, November 10, 2014. The repair contract includes drydocking, USCG inspection and repairs, hull cleaning and painting, as well as miscellaneous steel repairs. The Nautica Queen offers cruises along Lake Erie and the Cuyahoga River in Cleveland, Ohio providing views of historic architecture and the ever-changing skyline of Downtown Cleveland.

The Great Lakes Towing Company hosted a WIRE-Net networking event at Great Lakes Shipyard in order to celebrate manufacturing and innovation in Cleveland and Northeast Ohio. More than 100 attendees gathered on the banks of the Cuyahoga River to connect with other manufacturing professionals, forge new relationships and continue to grow and strengthen the local manufacturing community. In addition to a cocktail reception, attendees received tours of the shipyard and detailed explanations of some of the new services/tools that Great Lakes Shipyard has added to their business offering.

To avoid significant financial losses to the port and local economy, dredging the Cuyahoga River and Cleveland Harbor must start without delay considered the Port Board at its March 2014 meeting. Accordingly they directed the  Port’s management to work with U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to ensure the timely start and completion of dredging necessary for the 2014 shipping season utilizing existing confined facilities for disposal of the [dredged] material. The Board also asked that…

The Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Port Authority’s Board of Directors voted unanimously today to place a levy renewal on the November countywide ballot. “The Port plays a unique and essential role in our region,” said Port Chair Marc Krantz “We are the only local government agency whose sole responsibility is to spur job creation and economic vitality in Cuyahoga County. Proceeds from the renewal of the Port Authority’s levy will be used to sustain and advance strategic initiatives that are essential to protecting and growing the nearly 18,000 jobs and $1.8 billion in annual economic activity that depend on Cleveland Harbor. Renewing the Port Authority levy will not increase taxes…

The Port is leading critical intitiatives for river renewal and infrastructure improvements. •    Managing sediment dredged annually from the river. Enough sediment is scooped out annually to fill a sports stadium – and then deposited in what are essentially landfills along the lake. But experience and scientific analysis has shown that sediment is a resource that can be used to benefit the community. We are leading efforts to develop the mechanisms and market to make that happen. •    Repairing or replacing bulkheads that line the ship channel. Research indicates that bulkheads do not exist or are in poor condition along 29,000 feet of the channel. Fixes are crucial to protect shipping and set the stage for more job-creating and recreational developments.

The 2013 Great Lakes shipping season began on March 2 with the sailing of the tug/barge unit Prentiss Brown/St. Mary’s Conquest. The vessel, operated by Port City Marine Services, departed its winter lay-up berth in Milwaukee and sailed for Charlevoix, Michigan, where it loaded 9,200 tons of cement for delivery to Chicago. Next to get underway was the tug/barge unit Dorothy Ann/Pathfinder. The vessel, one of 10 operated by The Interlake Steamship Company, loaded about 13,000 tons of iron ore at Cleveland Bulk Terminal in Cleveland…

Great Lakes Shipyard says it is ready and able to accept winter work projects for the current and upcoming off seasons. Their facility is located on 16 acres in the Old River Channel on the Cuyahoga River in Cleveland, Ohio with water front dockage of approximately 2,000 lineal feet with an additional 3,800 lineal feet of available water front dockage on the Cuyahoga River proximate to the shipyard. The Shipyard specializes in every kind of marine construction, fabrications, conversions…