Lake Carriers’ Association

Great Lakes Seaway Shipping Navigates the Global Supply Chain With Significant Increase in Steel, Iron, & Iron Ore Tonnage

October 19, 2021

Washington, D.C. (October 19, 2021) – The Great Lakes Seaway Partnership today reported that American and Canadian ports in the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Seaway System handled 5,361,000 mt of iron ore (+26.63 percent increase year-over-year) and 1,589,000 mt of iron and steel, an impressive 99.16 percent increase YOY. This noteworthy growth is reinforced by the…

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Demand for Iron Ore & Steel Drives Activity Across the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Seaway System

September 15, 2021

Washington, D.C. (September 15, 2021) – The Great Lakes Seaway Partnership today reported that American and Canadian ports in the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Seaway System handled 20,723,000 metric tons of cargo shipped through the St. Lawrence Seaway (Seaway) from the opening of the Seaway on March 22, 2021, through August 31, 2021 (i.e., Year-to-date or…

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2020 Photo Contest Winners

April 28, 2021

The Great Lakes Seaway Partnership today announced the winners of their third annual photo contest. This announcement also marks the beginning of the organization’s fourth annual photo contest only a few weeks after the opening of the St. Lawrence Seaway on March 24, 2021. Each year, to celebrate the start of the Great Lakes navigation…

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Lake Carriers’ Appreciation For House Appropriations Supporting The Great Lakes

August 14, 2020

The House Appropriations Committee has approved $123 million for construction of the Soo Lock. This would be the largest single year amount received so far in a fiscal year for one of the largest infrastructure projects ever in the Great Lakes region. The Lake Carriers’ Association applauds the House Committee for the approval of the…

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Assembly Begins On Historic New Great Lakes Freighter

June 24, 2020

Interlake Steamship Co. celebrated with the shipyard in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, by naming the vessel on Tuesday.     The first U.S.-flagged lake freighter built on the Great Lakes in more than 35 years celebrated milestones this week, earning its name and seeing the start of its assembly Tuesday at Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding in Sturgeon…

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Phase One of New Soo Lock Project Set to Begin

May 7, 2020

The project for a new Soo Lock is taking a major step forward.     The US Army Corp of Engineers announced phase one construction started this week. Phase one will begin with deepening the upstream channel. The Army Corp says equipment was moved on site earlier this week. It’s the start in creating a…

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Remainder Of Duluth’s Great Lakes Fleet Crewing Up To Start

April 6, 2020

Led by the Arthur M. Anderson, the rest of the Duluth-based fleet of lake freighters will come out of winter layup in the coming days — and enter into an uncertain time.     Close observers of Great Lakes shipping have noticed that not all of the Duluth-based Great Lakes Fleet have been in action since…

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Soo Locks Shipping Season Officially Begins

March 25, 2020

The Soo Locks are open for business! Wednesday is the first day of the shipping season on the St. Marys River. At one minute past midnight, the H. Lee White entered the Poe Lock on its way to Duluth. The Lee is the first of many freighters that will make opening day a busy one. Several…

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U.S. Great Lakes Shipping Begins The 2020 Sailing Season Amid The Challenges Of COVID-19

March 24, 2020

CLEVELAND, OHIO (March 24, 2020) – The first U.S.-flag commercial vessel, known as “lakers,” will transit the locks at Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan in the early hours of Wednesday, March 25, signaling the start of the 2020 sailing season. They carry the materials that drive the U.S. economy: iron ore for steel, stone and cement…

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Soo Locks Opening As Scheduled

March 20, 2020

The mandated March 25 opening of the Soo Locks is expected to go off as planned at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday, but the usual small crowd of dedicated boatnerds will not be able to watch from the viewing stand. The park grounds at the Soo Locks has been closed for now, including the visitor center there.…

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Port City Review: These 20 Seaport Communities Help Drive The U.S. Economy

March 19, 2020

  Ports are “crucial to the economy,” Texas economist Ray Perryman wrote in 2017. “Ports generate substantial business activity through their operations, but those benefits are dwarfed by the huge importance of water transportation to other industries.” In this survey of 20 U.S. port cities, we look at various engines of economic development and see how they…

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Winter Work On The Great Lakes

March 16, 2020

  Along the 1,600-mile, ice gray arch of the St Lawrence Seaway, the 2020 Great Lakes commercial shipping season will lurch back to life on March 25 when the Soo Locks at Sault Ste. Marie, Mich. reopen. The ceremonial opening signals a passage with passable ice and the 114th Great Lakes season for its fleet…

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State Awards $4.9M Grant To Support Agricultural Transload Facility At Port Milwaukee

March 10, 2020

Governor Tony Evers announced a $4.9 million Harbor Assistance Program grant on February 24 to support the construction of a new agricultural commodity bulk vessel transload facility at Port Milwaukee. The $31.3 million facility, the first of its kind on the Great Lakes, is being constructed at the port by the DeLong Company. The transload…

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Great Lakes Ports Work On Building Cargo Diversity

March 9, 2020

Project cargo’s growing diversification role Throughout the vast Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Seaway system in the United States and Canada, most ports seek to diversify their customer base by developing new business beyond traditional bulk markets. Front and center in their efforts are project cargoes, especially wind energy components destined to meet the rising demands of…

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Great Lakes Ports Storm Capitol Hill

March 6, 2020

  American Great Lakes Ports Association in solidarity. On March 4th & 5th, members of the American Great Lakes Ports Association fanned out across Capitol Hill in the association’s first Washington fly-in. Meetings included elected officials in both the House and Senate, Congressional committee staff, maritime agency leaders, and the Great Lakes governors’ representatives in…

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