Great Lakes Freighters

Cargo Movement In U.S.-Flag Vessels Down

U.S.-flag Great Lakes freighters (“lakers”) carried 89.5 million tons of dry-bulk cargo in 2012, a decrease of 4.6 percent compared to 2011.    The 2012 float was 1.5 percent off the 5-year average for U.S.-flag lakers. U.S.-flag lakers carried 45.2 million tons of iron ore in 2012, or 73.3 percent of the total volume of iron ore moved on the Great Lakes last year.  The 45.2 million tons of iron ore carried by U.S.-flag lakers represented a decrease of 4.3 percent from 2011. Coal cargos moved in U.S. bottoms totaled 17.6 million tons in 2012, or 69.3 percent of the total volume of coal moved on the Great Lakes last year.  The 17.6 million tons of coal carried by U.S.-flag lakers represented a decrease of 13.1 percent from 2011. The limestone trade in U.S.-flag hulls totaled 21.8 million tons in 2012, or 79 percent of the total volume of limestone moved on the Great Lakes last year.  The 21.8 million tons of limestone carried by U.S.-flag lakers represented an increase of 1.7 percent (360,000 tons) over 2011. Year-end totals for the other commodities are not yet available for vessels of all flags, but U.S.-flag cargos of cement increased 13 percent.  Loadings of salt in U.S.-flag lakers slipped almost 30 percent.  The sand trade in U.S. bottoms was virtually unchanged from 2011, but grain cargos in U.S.-flag hulls rose 31 percent

April U.S.-Flag Lakes Float Little Changed from a Year Ago

U.S.-flag Great Lakes freighters (“lakers”) carried 8.2 million tons of dry-bulk cargo in April, a virtual repeat of a year ago, and 2.7 percent better than the month’s 5-year average.   Iron ore cargos for the steel industry registered a modest increase compared to a year ago.  Coal for power generation and steel production dipped 16.5 percent.  Aggregate and fluxstone for the construction and steel industries rose by more than 14 percent.  

Great Lakes Cruise Study Results Released

The first exhaustive economic activity study of the Great Lakes cruise industry has just been completed and the results are substantially ahead of expectations, according to Stephen Burnett, Executive Director of the Great Lakes Cruising Coalition (GLCC), a non profit organization devoted to growing the cruise industry on the Great Lakes. Burnett comments. “Our organization realized that in order to grow the overnight cruise industry

Higgins, Great Lakes Legislator of the Year

Congressman Brian M. Higgins (D-NY) has been honored for his support of Great Lakes shipping by the largest coalition representing the industry.  The Congressman was named Great Lakes Legislator of the Year by Great Lakes Maritime Task Force (GLMTF).  Rep. Higgins will formally receive the award at GLMTF’s 14th Annual Briefing for the Great Lakes Delegation in Washington on April 2, 2009. “As a native of Buffalo

Spending HMT Will End Dredging Crisis

Using the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund for its intended purpose will end the dredging crisis on the Great Lakes declared a stone shipper at a briefing for the Great Lakes delegation in Washington, DC on April 2 hosted by Great Lakes Maritime Task Force.  “We need approximately $200m to clear the dredging backlog on the Great Lakes,” said Thomas Buck, President and Chief Executive Officer of Carmeuse Lime & Stone.  “The fund collects $1

Cargo Ship Aground in St Lawrence Seaway

The upbound freighter 'Sedna Desgagnes' aground near Johnstown Bridge off Prescott, Ontario. The casualty is completely out of the channel and appears to be in a shoal area with 6 m of water or less. The ship is hard aground with cargo on board. She is up at the bow a few feet and listing slightly to starboard. This will be a major salvage operation with lightering taking place before she is pulled off her strand, according to 'Daily Great Lakes & Seaway Shipping News'.

No Stimulus Funds for New Soo Lock

The Great Lakes Maritime Task Force (GLMTF) has expressed its disappointment that the second Poe-sized lock at Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan did not receive any Federal stimulus dollars. GLMTF stated that Congress has strongly supported the project, authorizing the lock at full Federal expense in 2007, and approving tens of millions of dollars in Federal construction funding, including $17 million recently in the FY09 Appropriations Bill.

GLMTF Says USACE Shorted Region on Stimulus

The Great Lakes Maritime Task Force said the Great Lakes came up short when the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers decided how to divvy up the $4.6b Congress gave it for job creation and infrastructure improvements under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The Corps allocated only two percent of its stimulus dollars to the Great Lakes, leaving navigation and environmental projects in America’s heartland high and dry.

U.S. Awards $1 Million to Great Lakes Towing

Cleveland - The U.S. Maritime Administration and the U.S. Department of Transportation announced  that it had awarded a $1,068,474 grant from the Small Shipyard Grant Program to The Great Lakes Towing Company and its Shipyard in Cleveland, Ohio. The grant from the Maritime Administration will provide Great Lakes Shipyard, which is operated by The Great Lakes Towing Company, with funds to enhance lighting and purchase a burn table, a scissor lift, welding equipment, scaffolding, air skids

House Adopts Amendment Addressing Great Lakes Dredging Crisis

Toledo, Ohio – The end of the Great Lakes dredging crisis came a step closer to reality yesterday when the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 4348 and included a provision which could lead to substantially increased funding for Great Lakes dredging. The amendment directs that all funding collected in the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund be spent on dredging each year. Currently, the Fund has a $7 billion surplus