Safety

Environmental Protection Agency Outlines 2020 Plans For Grasse River Remediation

May 18, 2020

  MASSENA — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has outlined what activities are scheduled for the Grasse River remediation project in 2020. Arconic will resume in-river construction this spring to continue implementing a remediation plan selected by the EPA for the lower Grasse River. The plan, which was selected in 2013, calls for dredging and…

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AAPA Calls for Ship To “Sound Off”

May 15, 2020

  The American Association of Port Authorities (AAPA) this year will commemorate National Maritime Day during the work week of May 18-22, and to mark the occasion, which annually recognizes the mariners, the maritime industry, ports and their workforces, vessels in harbors and at berth throughout the hemisphere are being encouraged to sound their horns…

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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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Peters Discusses Michigan Security Priorities with Homeland Security Secretary

March 3, 2020

WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senator Gary Peters (D-MI), Ranking Member of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, met with Department of Homeland Security Acting Secretary Chad Wolf to discuss Michigan’s top homeland security needs. Peters released the following statement on the meeting: “As Ranking Member of the Homeland Security Committee, I’m working to…

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Great Lakes Shipping Fleet Prepares for 2020

February 20, 2020

More than $97 million in maintenance and modernization is underway on U.S.-flag Lakers idled for winter work at multiple Great Lakes shipyards. After working around the clock for 10 months hauling cargo over more than 70,000 miles per vessel, the ships and their crews are given a brief rest to recoup before the next season…

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Great Lakes Shipping Routes Evolve Digitally

February 11, 2020

113 years ago, the Lake Carriers’ Association developed the world’s first Traffic Separation Scheme. Today, those recommended shipping routes have evolved to meet the demands of electronic navigation and continue to provide routes for safe navigation of some of the largest cargo vessels on the planet. Recognizing a need to keep the growing maritime trade…

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Lake Carriers’ Association President Hopeful New Soo Lock Project Could be ‘Efficiently Funded’

January 21, 2020

SAULT STE. MARIE, Mich. (WLUC) – The president of the Lake Carriers’ Association is hoping to keep funding for the new Soo Lock on the fast track. President Jim Weakley says he’s been working towards getting a new lock for about 15 years. He says the new lock is needed to provide a back up in…

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Congress and President Agree on Need for New Great Lakes Icebreaker

December 21, 2019

The 2020 Federal Appropriations Bills, which the President is expected to sign today, include vital language directing the U.S. Coast Guard to stand up a major acquisition program office to enhance icebreaking capacity on the Great Lakes. The Lake Carriers’ Association applauds Congress and President Trump on this significant, formal step for the acquisition of…

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Soo Locks design, channel deepening plans underway

November 19, 2019

A new 1,000-foot lock to join the vital Great Lakes complex By Rep. Jack Bergman – – Tuesday, November 19, 2019 ANALYSIS/OPINION: When I came to Congress in January of 2017, I made the construction of a new lock in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, a top priority. Like many things in Washington, this goal didn’t come…

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Soo Locks Upgrade Looks For State Funding

November 5, 2019

ST. PAUL, MN (MNN) – The head of a company that operates huge freighters between Duluth-Superior and other Great Lakes ports says they’re in “very preliminary discussions” with state lawmakers about Minnesota helping fund a major upgrade of the Soo Locks at Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan. Interlake Steamship Company President Mark Barker warns if the…

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Hands-free mooring now fully deployed at Seaway locks

October 18, 2019

Hands-free mooring (HFM) technology, which uses vacuum pads instead of lines to hold ships in place as they transit locks, is now fully deployed throughout the St. Lawrence Seaway. In a June 6 announcement, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corp. (SLSDC) called HFM the most important technological advance on the Seaway…

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New Report Highlights Restoration of the Great Lakes

August 26, 2019

Industrial pollution once plagued the Great Lakes. But over the past 35 years, both the United States and Canada have collaborated to clean up and restore the lakes and their shorelines. In 1966, President Lyndon Johnson and his wife Lady Bird came to Buffalo to see first-hand what industrial pollution was doing to Lake Erie.…

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Whitmer: Great Lakes need federal money

August 10, 2019

Five governors want presidential candidates to pledge support GLEN ARBOR — Gov. Gretchen Whitmer discussed her six-point presidential agenda for the Great Lakes in a tour across northern Lower Michigan. The Michigan governor on Thursday detailed a strategic plan which a group of Great Lakes governors want all 2020 presidential candidates to embrace. She told…

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Duluth’s new boat helps fight fires from Lake Superior

June 19, 2019

Duluth vessel equipped for fire, medical, environmental response   The distress calls coming from the world’s largest freshwater lake in dense fog or the cover of night can be tricky for Duluth-based rescuers who are compelled to respond. But now, with a new night-vision fire and rescue boat equipped to handle the big waves on…

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U.S. Department of Transportation Announces Hands-Free Mooring Technology Fully Operational at all St. Lawrence Seaway Locks

June 14, 2019

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation (SLSDC) announced last week that Hands-Free Mooring (HFM) technology is fully deployed throughout the Saint Lawrence Seaway.  The new technology revolutionizes the method for locking vessels through the Seaway and is the most important technological advance since the Seaway’s opening in 1959. “This new technology…

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