SEAWAY OPENS 55th NAVIGATION SEASON

St. Lambert, Quebec ---- March 22, 2013 ---– The St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation (SLSMC) announced today the opening of the Seaway’s 55th navigation season with the transit of Canada Steamship Lines’ newly built Baie St. Paul through the St. Lambert Lock. Marking the first of a series of new vessels being constructed specifically for use in the St. Lawrence Seaway, the Baie St. Paul ushers in a new era in domestic shipping.

“Canada Steamship Lines (CSL) ranks prominently among a number of Canadian shipowners who are committing hundreds of millions of dollars to build new vessels, testifying to the confidence these firms have in the future of the Great Lakes-Seaway System,” said Terence Bowles, President and CEO of the SLSMC. “The new vessels coming into service will bolster marine transportation’s competitive edge as the most energy efficient means of moving cargo.”  read more....>

Sure sign of spring

Duluth, Minn., USA (March 20, 2013)—- he Coast Guard Cutter Mackinaw, a 240-foot Icebreaker homeported in Cheboygan, Mich., passes through the Poe Lock, one of five locks that make up the Soo Locks in Northern Michigan,

U.S.-flag lakers will begin moving in the Port of Duluth-Superior this week as the 2013 commercial shipping season gets underway on the far western edge of the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Seaway system. The Mesabi Miner is expected to be the port’s first departure of the season, set for late Tuesday or early Wednesday.
 
The Miner is scheduled to begin loading coal Tuesday morning (March 19) at the Superior Midwest Energy Terminal after which the 1,000-footer will move to the Port Terminal to load and install a drive motor for its conveyor system prior to making a cross-lake delivery to Marquette.  She’ll return to Duluth over the weekend to load iron ore at the CN dock then head to Indiana Harbor.  The Canadian-flag CSL Tadoussac is also set to head to Duluth this weekend (from winter layup in Thunder Bay) to load iron ore pellets at CN.  read more.....>

 Duluth Seaway Port Authority Names New Industrial/Economic Development Director

Duluth, Minn., U.S.A. – December 14, 2012 ---  The Duluth Seaway Port Authority has named Jeff Borling its new Director of Industrial/Economic Development, effective January 1, 2013.   Borling has spent the majority of his professional career in the economic development arena. He joins the Port Authority after nearly seven years with APEX (Area Partnership for Economic Expansion), helping to drive regional investment activity and job growth.

 The business development executive began his career at APEX handing the agency’s research and communications efforts. Since 2010, he has served as director of business development for the Itasca Economic Development Corporation (IEDC), headquartered in Grand Rapids, Minn. For eight months this year, he served as IEDC’s interim president and CEO.  read more.....>

DECEMBER OFF TO A GOOD START IN PORT OF THUNDER BAY

THUNDER BAY, ON   ----  December 5, 2012  ---  The month of December has started off strong in the Port of Thunder Bay, following a dip in cargo shipments in November.  Forty-one vessels carried over 860,000 tonnes of cargo to and from the port during November, about six percent shy of the month’s 5-year average.

Vessel traffic is robust so far for the month of December.  Fifteen vessels were in port over the first two days of the month, with another three calling December 3.  There are currently eight (8) vessels loading in the port: six with grain and one each with potash and pulp.   

Grain shipments for 2012 continue to be strong, and current projections suggest that grain tonnage and overall port tonnage will surpass last year’s totals.  As of November 30, shipments of wheat, the port’s most plentiful grain, are up 8% over last year.  Shipments of canola, the port’s second-most shipped grain, are below last year’s record-high numbers, but still about 20% above the five-year average.  read more.....>

The ice is coming! The ice is coming!

DULUTH, MN  ----  December 5, 2012  -- The cold season is upon us here in the 9th Coast Guard District. As the month of December has begun and the official winter season nears, we are all preparing for the ice to come. Operational seasonality is an on-going reality for all of us who currently call the Great Lakes region home.

Just as the summer months bring a hectic schedule due to increased search and rescue and law enforcement cases, the winter brings a hectic schedule full of ice maintenance operations including search and rescue, ice-breaking and aids-to-navigation. With the ice that forms on the vast waters of the Great Lakes comes the high probability of damage to the vital aids-to-navigation that dot the Great Lakes.

The 9th Coast Guard District’s aids to navigation system facilitates safe and efficient maritime activity in the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway region by marking safe passage for domestic, international, commercial and recreational vessel traffic. The Coast Guard manages 3,127 fixed and floating federal aids in the region.   read more...>

Coast Guard, Chicago's Christmas delivery of 1,300 Christmas trees

CHICAGO – December 1, 2012  --The Coast Guard Cutter Mackinaw, serving as this year’s Christmas Ship and loaded with 1,300 Christmas trees, is scheduled to return to Chicago Friday at 8 a.m., for a two-day event depicting what was an annual Chicago tradition in the early 1900s.

The re-enactment by the Mackinaw and Chicago’s Christmas Ship Committee continues a treasured piece of Chicago’s maritime tradition.

Members of the Coast Guard Cutter Mackinaw load more than 1,300 Christmas trees onto the ship in preparation for its journey to Chicago, Nov. 20, 2012.

The Mackinaw is once again serving as the Christmas Ship, re-enacting an annual tradition which began in the late 1800s by Captain Herman Schuenemann until he and his crew perished aboard the Rouse Simmons in a storm in November of 1912.

The schooner Rouse Simmons was the original Christmas Ship that came to Chicago from Michigan for more than 30 years with fresh evergreens and wreaths for the holiday season during the early 1900s. On Nov. 23, 1912, while transiting from Michigan, the Rouse Simmons was lost in a storm and sank with a crew of 16 between Kewaunee and Two Rivers, Wis.   read more....>

Yorktown’s arrivals in Duluth

Duluth, Minn., U.S.A.— August 1, 20122  ---  Yorktown’s arrival at 5:56 a.m. this morning in Duluth .  The M/V Yorktown made its maiden voyage into the Great Lakes in June of this year and has been entertaining passengers on a series of discovery cruises along this inland waterway ever since. On Wed., Aug. 1, the US-flag cruise ship is scheduled to arrive in the Port of Duluth-Superior and dock behind the Duluth Entertainment Convention Center (DECC) for the day.

               Owned and operated by Travel Dynamics International of New York, the 138-passenger vessel is expected to arrive at 6 a.m. and should complete disembarkation by 9 a.m.  Outbound passengers will begin boarding the vessel late that afternoon, with departure set for 11:30 p.m. via the Duluth ship canal.  Those outbound passengers will end up in Detroit following an 11-day transit being called “Great Lakes Grand Discovery” – a route with stops in Lakes Superior, Michigan and Huron.  read more....>

Special shipment heading to Calgary

Duluth, Minn. (USA) – May, 4, 2012  ----  In the wee hours of Saturday (May 5) – most likely before sunrise – a newly christened oceangoing vessel, the Clipper Gemini, is expected to sail into the Port of Duluth-Superior.  It’s not often that Duluth ends up being a port of call on a ship’s maiden voyage from Hong Kong!

The 393-foot Bahamian-flag vessel was loaded in and left Kobe, Japan, on Feb. 23, 2012. En route to Duluth, she wound her way around the globe via Xingang, China; Songkhla, Thailand; Singapore; the Suez Canal; Gibralter; Poole, UK; and Hamburg and Rostok, Germany, before entering the St. Lawrence Seaway on April 28. She made one last stop in Valleyfield (Quebec) before arriving in the Twin Ports.
Over the weekend, crews from Lake Superior Warehousing Co. will discharge its breakbulk cargo of gas and steam turbine/generator components for a large electricity generation project (including six heavy-lift units) at the Clure Public Marine Terminal, the port’s only breakbulk terminal. From Duluth, the cargo will move its final leg via specialized railcar and truck to the ENMAX Shepard Energy Centre in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. read more....>

Historic film on grain handling online for first time

THUNDER BAY, ON  --  March 2, 2012  ---    A train rushes across the Prairies, taking railcars of grain from country elevators to terminal elevators at Thunder Bay, Ontario. It's a scene that could be from any year. But this train is a steam engine and the year is 1955, as seen in the documentary "Grain Handling in Canada" which is available for the first time online.

To celebrate its 100th anniversary, the Canadian Grain Commission has joined with the National Film Board to make "Grain Handling in Canada" available online. While the film is housed on the National Film Board's site at http://www.nfb.ca/film/grain_handling_in_canada/, the Canadian Grain Commission offers a link to the film on its 1951-1960 timeline at http://www.grainscanada.gc.ca/cgc-ccg/history-histoire/timeline-historique/1951-1960-eng.htm. The 23-minute, colour film follows grain from harvest to export and describes the role of the Board of Grain Commissioners (as the Canadian Grain Commission was known at the time).

"What really struck me when I watched this film is that the Canadian Grain Commission's role in grain quality, quantity and safety assurance is as important today as it was nearly 50 years ago," says Elwin Hermanson, Chief Grain Commissioner. "People will enjoy seeing the old harvesting equipment and wooden elevators, but I think the real value is in seeing how our commitment to Canadian producers and the grain sector hasn't changed."   read more.....>

Coast Guard Air Station Traverse City honored for volunteer efforts

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. — Coast Guard Air Station Traverse City was presented with the "Caught Thriving Award" by Traverse City State Bank on Thursday at a ceremony at the air station.

The Caught Thriving Award is given monthly to local businesses and organizations that are helping the area to thrive.

The air station was recognized for its many volunteer efforts.  Members of the air station are helping the community through various volunteer efforts and outreach programs, including a mentorship program with students at Traverse Heights Elementary School, partnership with the Big Brothers/Big Sisters program, volunteering with United Way, coaching youth sports teams, assisting with Special Olympics events, and supporting other programs.  read more.......>

CGC Biscane Bay Frees Vessel Manistee

CLEVELAND, Ohio ---- January 28, 2012 --- The crew of a Coast Guard cutter came to the aid of two vessels that became beset by ice in the Straits of Mackinac Friday night and Saturday morning.

The crew of Coast Guard Cutter Biscayne Bay, a 140-foot ice-breaking tug homeported in St. Ignace, Mich., aided the vessels while engaged in Operation Taconite, the Coast Guard's largest domestic ice-breaking operation, which began in December.

At 4:40 p.m. Friday, the watchstander at Coast Guard Sault Ste. Marie Vessel Traffic Service, was contacted by the crew of the ferry Huron, who reported they had become beset by ice with 68 people aboard while transiting from St. Ignace to Mackinac Island. There were no reports of injury or other medical concerns and the master of the ferry felt the 90-foot vessel was not in danger of running aground.   read more......>

Dahlberg appointed to Duluth Seaway Port Authority

Duluth, Minn., USA – January 12, 2012 --- Chris Dahlberg was appointed by the St. Louis County Board to a six-year term on the Duluth Seaway Port Authority Board of Commissioners effective Jan. 3, 2012. He fills the vacancy created when Commissioner Bill Kron’s term ended in December.

Dahlberg, who was elected to the St. Louis County Board in 2008, had served as a member of the Duluth City Council in 1992-94. President of the Dahlberg Law Office, P.A., he is a graduate of the University of Minnesota Law School, with degrees in public policy from the University’s Humphrey Institute, political science from the University of Minnesota Duluth, and in Mandarin from the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, Calif  read more.....>

Christmas Ship Alder Delivers Christmas Trees

SAULT STE MARIE, MICHIGAN  ---  November 29, 2011    ---  The U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Alder, acting as the “Christmas Ship," departed Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., Tuesday morning and is scheduled to arrive at Chicago’s Navy Pier at 8:30 a.m. Friday for an annual event to distribute Christmas trees to deserving families on Saturday.

In conjunction with seasonal buoy retrieval operations in Lake Michigan, the crew of Alder will support the event this year, while the crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Mackinaw, which normally handles those duties, takes Mackinaw to a Wisconsin shipyard to effect the repair of a leaking bow-thruster.

The distribution of the holiday trees to trucks from community organizations will begin off the decks of the Alder on Saturday at 10 a.m., after the first three trees are given to three families during the brief public ceremony.   read more.....>

 

Port of Duluth-Superior injects billions into local/regional economy

DULUTH, MN - Nov 17, 2011 - Port of Duluth-Superior, USA – Cargo shipments in and out of the Port of Duluth-Superior support over 11,500 jobs in Minnesota and Cargo shipments; generate $1.5 billion in direct business revenue; produce $156 million in state and federal taxes; and contribute over $545 million in wages and salaries (and, in turn, purchases of goods and services) in the Great Lakes regional economy.
These findings, released today by the Duluth Seaway Port Authority, reflect the local segment of a broader study of economic impacts of the entire Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Seaway (GLSLS) system conducted by Martin Associates – results of which were released by the maritime industry just last month. read more...>

Great Lakes-Seaway shipping supports 227,000 jobs

Duluth, MN – USA (October 18, 2011) – The Great Lakes Seaway Economic Impact Study  found that maritime commerce along this waterway supported 227,000 jobs; contributed $14.1 billion in annual personal income, $33.5 billion in business revenue, and $6.4 billion in local purchases; and added $4.6 billion to federal, state/provincial, and local tax revenues. North American farmers, steel producers, construction firms, food manufacturers, and power generators depend on the 164 million metric tons of essential raw materials and finished products that are moved annually on the system. Additionally, marine shipping saves companies approximately $3.6 billion per year in transportation costs compared to the next least-costly land-based alternative.   read more....>

 

U.S. Ports Report Positive Tonnage

DULUTH, MN. ---   September 19, 2011 – 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, can grow when you match demand with supply,” said Rebecca Spruill, Director of Trade Development for the Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation. 

read more......>

Columbus!  German cruise ship to visit Duluth Sept. 14 & 22 

Duluth, Minn., U.S.A. — September 13, 2011 -----  After a four-year absence, the German luxury liner C. Columbus has returned to the Great Lakes for two cruises this month and is scheduled to make stops in Duluth on both legs of the Toronto-Chicago route:  on Wed., Sept. 14 (tomorrow) and again on Thurs., Sept. 22.  This will be her 11th and 12th visits to the Port of Duluth-Superior since she first set sail in 1997.

The Columbus, under the command of Captain Jörn Gottschalk, is expected to arrive beneath the Duluth Aerial Lift Bridge at approximately 5:00 a.m. and will proceed directly to Murphy Oil USA at the Clure Public Marine Terminal for fueling. The vessel is scheduled to then dock behind the Duluth Entertainment Convention Center (DECC) at 8:00 a.m., where passengers will clear Customs and Border Protection.  read more.......>

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 GREEN MARINE RECEIVES INTERNATIONAL AWARD

Quebec -----  Friday, July 8, 2011 –--   Green Marine received the prestigious Sustainable Shipping Award for Green Shipping Initiative of the Year for 2011 at the gala presentations held yesterday evening at the Radisson Blu Hotel in London, England.  The award celebrates and rewards the important work that is going on worldwide to assist the marine industry in improving environmental efficiency. Other nominees in this category included Rightship, DNV, Royal Caribbean and the Carbon War Room. 

It was with great pride that David Bolduc, Green Marine's Executive Director, accepted the Green Shipping Initiative of the Year prize before an audience that included environmental and marine industry experts from throughout the world.  “The Green Marine initiative has grown rapidly since being launched just over three years ago” he noted.   “This award is a testament to the initiative’s success and, even more importantly, to the credibility and relevance of the Green Marine Environmental Program.”  read more.....>

 

Hallett Dock Co. Service Excellence Award

Duluth, Minn. USA –  July 7, 2011  ---  They found the company’s story so compelling that they decided to profile it in a video. The segment posted on YouTube features Jerry Fryberger, the company’s chairman, who has been with Hallett for 47 years. He explains how Hallett “works on its feet.”       

A creative team for Red Wing Shoes visited the Port of Duluth-Superior’s Hallett Dock Co. last September, spending two days onsite shooting photos for a print advertising campaign about work boots . The ads feature real workers wearing Red Wing work boots as they load ships, move industrial equipment and do other big, dirty jobs.

That boots-on-the-ground approach also helped Hallett earn a Service Excellence Award from Compass Minerals, a leading producer of highway deicing salt and specialty fertilizers. Compass works with more than 500 supply chain providers around the world, yet Hallett was among just 28 companies from the U.S., Canada and the United Kingdom selected to receive the award “for consistently providing excellent service, innovation and supply chain solutions,” according to Compass President and CEO Angelo Brisimitzakis.   read more....>

 

Duluth Ranked Top Port in North America by RICA

Duluth, MN - June 24, 2011 – When the Railway Industrial Clearance Association (RICA) handed out its Port Service Awards for North America this year, the Port of Duluth took top honors – sitting in first place, along with the Port of Mobile, in the Association’s final rankings. In two of the individual categories – those evaluating “facilities” and “overall service” – the Port of Duluth ranked at the top of RICA’s leader board. read more...>

SEAWAY CARGO SEASON OFF TO POSITIVE START

Washington, D.C. June 14, 2011 – The St. Lawrence Seaway has reported a strong start to the 2011shipping season. Generally viewed as a bellwether for the regional economy, initial indicators show signs of a continued rebound over last season with significant increases in grain, steel slabs, and general cargo during the first two months of activity.

            Year-to-date total cargo shipments for the period March 22 to May 31 were 7.6 million metric tons, up 4 percent over the same period in 2010. Total grain shipments increased by 31 percent to 1.8 million metric tons, while coal increased by 14 percent to 850,000 metric tons.  read more.....>

First “Saltie” arrives in Duluth-Superior

Duluth, Minn. USA – The first oceangoing vessel of the 2011 navigation season arrived in the Port of Duluth-Superior this morning – Monday, April 11.  The Cyprus-flagged Federal Leda (Lee-da) sailed beneath the Duluth Aerial Lift Bridge at 7:10 a.m. and headed to CHS in Superior to begin loading durum wheat. Her arrival marked the first saltwater vessel (i.e. “saltie”) into the Twin Ports this year to have transited the Great Lake St. Lawrence Seaway system (GLSLS) – the entire 2,342-mile inland waterway from the Atlantic Ocean.

The Federal Leda began her voyage in Constanza, Romania, and made two stops along the GLSLS to discharge steel (in Windsor and Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario).  She will load nearly 21,000 short tons (19,050 mt) of durum wheat at CHS and, after a stop in Sorel, Quebec to take on 11,023 short tons (10,000 mt) of titanium slag, is bound for Italy. Local vessel agent for the Federal Leda is Daniel’s Shipping Services.    read more.....>

SEAWAY OPENS 53rd NAVIGATION SEASON PROJECTING 7% INCREASE FOR 2011

St. Lambert, Québec ---   March 24, 2011 – The St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation (SLSMC) predicted that cargo shipments would rise by about seven per cent to 39.1 million tonnes for 2011 as it marked the official opening of its 53rd navigation season today at the St. Lambert Lock.

 

“Transportation of raw materials serves as a bellwether for the economy as a whole, and despite volatile global economic conditions, we have reason to be cautiously optimistic regarding our various market segments” said SLSMC President and CEO Terence Bowles.  “Projections for the 2011 season foresee continued strength in the traditional staple cargoes of grain and iron ore.  Shipments of road salt are projected to increase to replenish inventories depleted over a challenging winter season.  Project cargo is pegged to rise due in part to continued activity in the oil sands.”   read more......>

Port of Duluth-Superior:  2011 Shipping Season gets underway

 

 

 Strong finish to Shipping Season Duluth-Superior

Duluth, Minn., USA – January 19, 2011 ---  The 2010 shipping season officially came to a close in the Port of Duluth-Superior today with the morning arrival of the John G. Munson, the last vessel inbound for winter layup. Altogether, ten U.S.-flagged vessels that transport dry bulk cargoes across the Great Lakes – aka “lakers” – will winter in the Twin Ports this year. Instead of closing Saturday, Jan. 15, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers kept the locks at Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., open through Tuesday to enable companies on the lower Lakes to stockpile more iron ore and coal.  “Industry appreciates how hard Coast Guard icebreakers and local tug operators worked to keep shipping channels open and docks accessible in heavy ice conditions to extend the season,” said Adolph Ojard, executive director, Duluth Seaway Port Authority.  read more.........>

 Coast Guard begins ice breaking operations in western Great Lakes

SAULT SAINTE MARIE, Mich. –   December 6, 2010   ----  The U.S. Coast Guard commenced Operation Taconite this afternoon in response to colder temperatures and the resultant ice growth in the western Great Lakes region.

Operation Taconite is the Coast Guard’s largest domestic icebreaking operation, encompassing Lake Superior, St. Mary’s River, the Straits of Mackinac, and northern Lake Huron. 

As a result of the operation, certain waterways may close once due consideration is given to the protection of the marine environment, waterway improvements, aids to navigation, the need for cross-channel traffic (e.g. ferries), the availability of icebreakers, and the safety of the island residents, who in the course of their daily business use naturally formed ice bridges for transportation to and from the mainland.  read more .....>

 

 

 Retrieval of the Great Lakes navigation aids

SAULT STE. MARIE, Mich.  November 14, 2010  ---   In anticipation of the coming ice season and to ensure the safety of vessels transiting the Great Lakes Basin, the Ninth Coast Guard District has begun its annual retrieval of the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway System seasonal aids to navigation, the largest domestic aids to navigation recovery operation in the United States.

Petty Officer 2nd Class Benjamin Gaines, a deck-crewmember aboard USCGC Buckthorn, orders a buoy into place during Operation Fall Retrieve on Nov. 23, 2009. Operation Fall Retrieve, which includes lighted and unlighted buoys and beacons, commenced Oct. 14, 2009, with a goal of retrieving 1,284 navigational aids, and should be completed by Dec. 21, 2009. The aids, approximately half in the region, are taken out of service during the winter months due to decreased vessel traffic and to minimize damage from ice and inclement weather.  read more.....>

Port of Duluth west to Alberta by CP rail

Duluth, Minn. USA –  November 14, 2010   --- This week marked a milestone in project cargo movement at the Head of the Lakes as crews handled the heaviest Canadian Pacific (CP) direct, single-line rail move from the Port of Duluth-Superior to western Canada.  

Two, 300-ton dimensional transformers arrived at the Clure Public Marine Terminal in Duluth on Friday, Nov. 5. Both units were manufactured in Germany and shipped from Rotterdam aboard the BigLift freighter Tracer, along with multiple crates of accessories. Crews from Lake Superior Warehousing Co. discharged the high/wide/ heavy cargo directly onto specialized railcars waiting dockside   read more......>

 Gales of November Celebrates & Explores Lake Superior Maritime Heritage

DULUTH, MN ---  October 22, 2010   ----  The two day educational, fundraising and networking event begins Friday, November 12 with a joint luncheon with the Duluth-Superior Propeller Club at Grandma’s Sports Garden.  The keynote speaker, Pat Labadie, former Museum Director of the Lake Superior Maritime Visitor Center (from 1973-2000,) will present “Shedding New Light on Maritime History.”  Various area tour options follow lunch and the day concludes with an Opening Gala reception, sponsored by Lake Superior Magazine, at the Lake Superior Maritime Visitor Center in historic Canal Park.

Saturday, November 13 festivities, all held at the Duluth Entertainment and Convention Center, begin at 8:30 a.m.  The day is filled with maritime related educational breakout presentations, a mini trade show, silent auction, and an opportunity to enter to win the Cruise of a Lifetime raffle.  Saturday’s keynote luncheon presentation, “Full Circle Tour:  A Journey Around the Greatest Lake,” will feature presenters Mike Link and Kate Crowley   read more.....>

The real grain story

THUNDER BAY, ON   ----  October 12, 2010  -----   The funding announcement ignored totally, the problems and low employment levels that these employees are experiencing largely because of the grain distribution practices employed by a legal monopoly…the Canadian Wheat Board. It is true that CWB practice does bestow health on Mission Terminals but it is coming close to destroying the traditional base of Thunder Bay grain handling.

Thunder Bay’s municipal, provincial and federal politicians need to ask how monopolistic practices can be allowed to exist in a capitalist economy and if they are allowed to continue, how can they be monitored and controlled so that any collateral damage to Thunder Bay companies can be limited?

The photo caption reads, “The Algonorth loads at the Agricore United Elevator.” This item and the item on funding for expansion at Mission Terminal (front page, Oct. 2 The Chronicle JOurnal) illustrate a problem that we, as employees of the other four grain companies that make up the traditional base of Thunder Bay’s grain trade, see daily — i.e., diminishing work hours and job numbers in Thunder Bay’s grain business.   read more.....>

 

 

 Wheat Exports Along USA Seaway Set for Busy Fall Season

THUNDER BAY, ON  ------  September 9, 2010 – Grain shipments through the St. Lawrence Seaway increased by 51 percent to 830,000 metric tons in August compared to the same period last year as international demand began to ramp up in the wake of production shortages in Russia.

 The St. Lawrence Seaway reported that American grain shipments reached 303,000 metric tons in August, an increase of 62 percent compared to the same period last year, while Canadian grain shipments increased by 45 percent to 527,000 metric tons. Year-to-date numbers, however, reflect an 18 percent increase to 743,000 metric tons for U.S. grain shipments and a 15 percent decrease to 2.8 million metric tons for Canadian grain shipments from March 25 to August 31compared to the same period in 2009.   read more......>

 Port of Thunder Bay as a true Gateway to Western Canada

THUNDER BAY, ON   ---    September 3, 2010  ----  As the largest grain port in the world, and still having the largest grain storage in North America today, the Port of Thunder Bay has a magnificent history that has served its citizens and the region well. As a Grain Handler for Cargill Grain in the late seventies, I remember with fond memories the salties lined up to load grain destined to various parts of the world. At any one time, one could see from Hillcrest Park at least a dozen if not more ships waiting their turn in the harbour. What a sight! Could we make that happen again? 

We still have those capacities, but the world has changed and the port is trying to diversify into new markets and new products. Thunder Bay was one of Canada’s major grain ports, but declined due to regulatory requirements that increased costs and made the port less competitive vis-a-vis the railway and other transportation corridors on the western grain port terminals like Prince Rupert, Vancouver, and Churchill. We do however have a competitive advantage through a direct rail access to both national railways, something that few ports in North America can claim of having. But will that be enough? What else is needed?   read more......>

 

 

Step Closer to Permanent Fix of Lakes Dredging Crisis

DULUTH, MN ---- July 30, 2010  --– The end of the crippling dredging crisis on the Great Lakes moved a giant step closer today when a key House committee approved legislation requiring the federal government to spend all the tax dollars it collects for dredging on dredging rather than use nearly half to balance the budget - at least on paper. 

Section 2007 of H.R. 5892, the Water Resources Development Act of 2010, mandates that all tax revenues annually deposited in the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund (“HMTF”) be used to dredge the nation’s deep-draft ports and waterways.  Because the government does not spend all the tax dollars it raises for dredging, the HMTF currently has a surplus of more than $5 billion   read more....>

 

 

Federal Elbe is first saltie; First Ship Ceremony held today

April 8, 2010 - Duluth, Minn – The Duluth Seaway Port Authority hosted a “First Ship Ceremony” aboard the Federal Elbe today, Wed., April 7, at 1 p.m. to welcome Captain Darius Malinowski and his crew to the Port of Duluth-Superior. The ship – the first “saltie” of the 2010 navigation season to have transited the full Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway System – is docked and loading grain at the CHS terminal in Superior, Wis. read more...>

 

NEW EVIDENCE ABOUT SINKING OF EDMUND FITZGERALD

THUNDER BAY, ON  ----   March 29, 2010  -----   The exciting new yap films television series, DIVE DETECTIVES, launches on History Television in Canada on Wednesday, March 31 at 6:00 pm ET/PT (repeated at 11:00 pm ET/PT) with the episode The Edmund Fitzgerald. This premiere episode reveals new evidence that dramatically changes the accepted version of events relating to the sinking of the US freighter on Lake Superior in 1975 – a saga made famous in Gordon Lightfoot’s iconic song “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald”.  read more.....>

8 Tall Ships  to Visit Duluth

THUNDER BAY, ONTARIO --- DULUTH, MN ----  March 23, 2010 ----  The American Sail Training Association has partnered with GREAT LAKES UNITED to bring a fleet of international tall ships to the Great Lakes, the world’s largest body of fresh water, as part of the Great Lakes United TALL SHIPS CHALLENGE® 2010 race series. Join us as the tall ships race through all five Great Lakes making port appearances in cities throughout the US and Canada. Two important initiatives sail along with the tall ships: water conservation education and youth sail training!  read more......>

Duluth-Superior Shipping Season winds down; Last 3 lakers headed in for winter layup

DULUTH, MINN - January 14, 2010 – As the shipping winds down this week, the Port of Duluth-Superior, the Great Lakes, and the entire Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway System are closing the books on one of the most difficult navigation seasons in the waterway’s history. The recession hammered the construction, automotive, steel and appliance industries in the U.S. and Canada reducing demand for raw materials. All sectors of the freight industry felt the ill effects, in particular, maritime. Read more...>

Duluth-Superior Harbor Corrosion Mechanism Identified

Duluth, Minn. USA –  November 24, 2009  -----  Long-awaited research findings just published identify one possible mechanism responsible for accelerated steel corrosion in the Duluth-Superior harbor. The peer-reviewed paper published in CORROSION, The Journal of Science and Engineering, outlines a study led by Brenda Little, Senior Scientist, Marine Molecular Processes, Naval Research Laboratory, Stennis Space Center. The study was supported by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Detroit District, and the Duluth Seaway Port Authority.    read more.....>

 

"Intolerable” Abuse of Dredging Fund To End

 

Duluth, MN – April 19, 2010 - No more will ships leave Minnesota’s Great Lakes ports with less than full loads once Congress passes legislation introduced last week. Senate Bill 3213 requires the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund (“HMTF”) to spend what it takes in each year rather than amass a surplus that is used to paper balance the federal budget.

The bill comes not a minute too soon for Minnesota Congressman James L. Oberstar (D), calling this misuse of funds “intolerable.” read more...>

 

 

 

New commissioner Duluth Seaway Port Authority

Duluth, Minn., U.S.A.  ------September 2, 2010 –--- Rick Revoir was recently appointed by the Duluth City Council to the Duluth Seaway Port Authority Board of Commissioners. He will complete the remaining two years of a six-year term held previously by Thomas A. Clure who passed away in May.

Since 2004, Revoir has been an assistant professor in the School of Business & Technology at the College of St. Scholastica, teaching both accounting and healthcare finance courses. He taught a personal finance course for four years in the College’s Dignitas first-year experience program and has led several study abroad trips to China.   read more......>

 

 

 

Coast Guard Cutter Alder returns from the Northwest Passage

DULUTH, MN ---  October 10, 2010  The Coast Guard Cutter Alder return home . following a 56-day deployment to the Canadian Arctic.

The Alder departed Duluth, Minn., July 12 for a two-month deployment in which the crew participated in Exercise NATSIQ 2010, a Canadian exercise, designed to improve the collective capacity of our Arctic allies to effectively respond to safety and security threats or emergencies in the Arctic.

Exercise NATSIQ involved forces from the U.S. Navy and Coast Guard, as well as the Canadian navy and coast guard, and the Danish navy.   read more.....>

 

 

 

 

Coast Guard Cutter Morro Bay heads to Great Lakes

NEW YORK --   November 24, 2010  ---   A Connecticut-based Coast Guard cutter is scheduled to deploy to the Great Lakes Nov. 29, 2010, to assist in the service's icebreaking mission there throughout the winter months.

The crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Morro Bay, an 140-foot icebreaking tug, will arrive in the Great Lakes region a few weeks after it departs its homeport of New London, Conn.

While there, the crew will assist those of other Coast Guard icebreakers during Operations Coal Shovel and Taconite, the largest domestic ice breaking operations in the country. The Coast Guard conducts domestic ice breaking to aid in search and rescue and other emergency operations, mitigate flooding, and to meet the reasonable demands of commerce.
Ice breaking on the Great Lakes is vital to keeping shipping lanes open. Large quantities of steel, coal, heating oil and grain ships throughout the region, and Coast Guard ice breaking services enable these shippers to transport an average of $2 billion worth of cargo each year.   read more......>

 

Duluth, Minn., USA —  March 16, 2011  -----   Local maritime traffic through the Port of Duluth-Superior is set to commence tomorrow (March 17) with the scheduled afternoon departure of the season’s first laker, the James R. Barker. Having spent winter layup at MERC’s Superior Midwest Energy Terminal, the vessel will be loaded with coal headed for Presque Isle, Mich. This is the third consecutive year that the Barker has been the first outbound vessel; she departed last year on March 20.

 One more entry in the Duluth-Superior record books will be made shortly after the Soo Locks open on March 25, when the Port’s first inbound laker arrives after having transited those locks. Early indicators point to the night of March 26 (or early morning March 27) as the official start to the 2011 Great Lakes commercial navigation season in the Twin Ports. The Soo Locks, located at Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., are the gateway that allows huge lakers to moving raw materials like iron ore, coal, limestone, cement and salt between Lake Superior and the other Great Lakes.   read more.....>