Great Lakes Towing Co. Kicks Off Navigational Season

The Great Lakes Towing Company has successfully completed its first project cargo shipment of the 1995 Great Lakes navigating season. The cargo, an air distillation column measuring 170 ft. (51.8 m) long and weighing 60 metric tons, was manufactured in Canada for Praxair, Inc., an industrial gas producer. The column was rolled onto the 180-ft. (54.8-m) barge, Mobro 2001, at Port Robinson, Ontario, and towed by the tug Ohio to Ecorse, Mich. The column, unloaded by a Demag 4800 crane, is part of a $30 million air separation plant being constructed by Praxair in the Detroit area. The plant is expected to be on-line by August, producing 1,500 tons of oxygen daily.The Great Lakes Towing Company operates 40 tugboats on the Great Lakes, serving 35 ports. The company specializes in project cargo transportation, interport barge towing, harbor towing, icebreaking, rescue for grounded or damaged vessels and icebreaking.