Peter Laman News

The St. Lawrence Seaway will open its 54th annual international shipping season today. The first vessel to transit the Welland Canal as part of the opening ceremony will be the Wilf Seymour/Alouette Spirit from McKeil Marine. The event will include the annual "top hat" ceremony - a tradition since 1947, where a top hat is presented to the captain of the season's first vessel. Indiana's first international ship is tentatively scheduled to arrive at the Port of Indiana-Burns Harbor on April 7. The MV Isadora, a Polsteam vessel, is traveling from Ijmuiden, Netherlands. "The opening of the locks on the St. Lawrence Seaway allows the flow of international trade to and from the Great Lakes ports," said Peter Laman, port director at the Port of Indiana-Burns Harbor.

The Port of Indiana-Burns Harbor has welcomed a rare January lake vessel to its docks. The "James Kuber" will export approximately 16,000 tons of local corn from port company Cargill to an ethanol plant in Sarnia, Ontario. The 700-foot vessel is expected to begin loading tonight and continue through tomorrow morning. "This is the first lake vessel that we've had call on the port in January since 2006," said Peter Laman, port director at the Port of Indiana-Burns Harbor. "The mild weather has kept ice from forming on the lakes, which generally limits shipping this time of year. The international shipping season officially closed last month, but the port is open year-round.

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.

U.S. ports reported upticks in tonnage during the normal summer slowdown period. The Seaway’s year-to-date total cargo shipments from March 22 to August 31 were 22 million metric tons, up 3.5 percent from the same period last year. “In addition to the cargo shipments increase, vessel transits are up 9 percent from a year ago with the best performers in August being petroleum products, scrap metal and salt. This number shows that the marine trade, even in today’s tough economic times…

The Port of Indiana-Burns Harbor posted the largest increase in international cargo of all the Great Lakes ports during the 2010 navigation season, earning it the prestigious Robert J. Lewis Pacesetter Award from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation (SLSDC). SLSDC Administrator Terry Johnson presented the award today to Port Director, Peter Laman of the Port of Indiana-Burns Harbor. In 2010, the port registered an increase in tonnage of 73 percent over the 2009 navigation season. The port handled 351,600 metric tons of international cargo, primarily comprised of wind components, steel and construction equipment.

Cargo shipments through the St. Lawrence Seaway continue to rebound on the back of strong American grain exports and iron ore and steel activity, along with an uptick of new business and trade routes. The St. Lawrence Seaway reported that total year-to-date shipments reached 22.9 million metric tons from March 25 to September 30, an increase of 18 percent over the same period in 2009. Year-to-date shipments of iron ore for 2010 is up 62 percent to 7.2 million metric tons compared to last year, while American grain shipments have increased by 36 percent to 1.3 million metric tons. In September, these numbers were boosted by a 68 percent surge in American grain shipments to 604,000 metric tons compared to the same month in 2009.

Peter Laman will become the new port director at the Port of Indiana-Burns Harbor on Dec. Laman, a New Orleans resident for the last eight years, has 25 years of management experience in port operations along the Gulf of Mexico and West Coast. Laman held numerous positions within Continental Grain Co. and its successor Cargill at some of the largest port facilities in the country. Laman’s recent duties with Cargill included management of maritime activities in Westwego and Reserve, La., as well as Tacoma, Wash., including management for ship, rail, barge and truck logistics, as well as oversight of $750 million in export facility assets. Laman previously worked in Indiana at the Continental Grain Co.’s Ohio River facility in Mount Vernon during the early 1980s.