Shipping

New York ballast rules battle may end soon, says U.S. Seaway head

glbm — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 18:49:27 +0000

Jaegun Lee, Watertown Daily Times

Feb 6 2012

The head of the St. Lawrence Seaway Development Corp. believes Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo will help the shipping industry fight New York state’s “scientifically unachievable” ballast standards.

“We met on Tuesday with the Cuomo folks,” said Collister W. Johnson Jr., U.S. Seaway administrator, on Thursday. “We had a very good conversation. Cuomo ran on ‘I’m going to change the culture of New York and we’re not going to be the most unfriendly business state in the country.’ And I think in respect to this issue, he gets it.”

Ships carry ballast water to maintain stability while under way.

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Twin Ports researchers get five-year contract to study Great Lakes environmental issues

glbm — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 21:00:12 +0000

Steve Kuchera, Duluth News Tribune

Jan 4 2012

A Twin Ports research institute will study environmental issues facing shipping and Great Lakes marine transportation under a five-year agreement with the federal government.

The Great Lakes Maritime Research Institute’s first task is to lead a study of whether it’s feasible to convert to natural gas 10 bulk carriers that generate steam by burning fuel oil.

“These ships are going to have a problem in their current state with what is coming down the road” for air emission standards, said Michael Parsons, professor emeritus from the University of Michigan’s Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering Department, who will lead the study. “Converting to natural gas would make them some of the cleanest ships on the lakes.”

Most of the ships were built during the 1950s.

“So they still have life in fresh water,” Parsons said.

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Great Lakes companies concerned about funding for dredging

glbm — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 10:54:48 +0000

Dredging News

Mar 21 2011

Associated Press reports that Great Lakes shipping companies say their industry would be hit hard by an Obama administration proposal to cut funding by one-third for dredging the region's ports and waterways.

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Great Lakes shippers protest cut in dredging funds

glbm — Fri, 18 Mar 2011 10:48:39 +0000

Wall Street Journal

Mar 16 2011

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. — Great Lakes shipping companies say their industry would be hit hard by an Obama administration proposal to cut funding by one-third for dredging the region's ports and waterways. The Great Lakes Maritime Task Force says if Congress approves the 2012 spending plan, the amount of sediment removed from the lakes' shipping channels will be the smallest since record-keeping began more than 50 years ago. The group said Wednesday that the Army Corps of Engineers would dredge only 11 of the 83 U.S. ports on the lakes.

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Friend of lakes nominated to IJC

glbm — Mon, 14 Mar 2011 10:49:14 +0000

Watertown Daily Times

Mar 11 2011

Advocates for a more environmentally oriented approach to water level regulation on Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River soon may have a friend on the international commission that oversees those policies. President Barack Obama has nominated Dereth Glance of Syracuse, executive program director with Citizens Campaign for the Environment, to fill an opening on the U.S.-Canadian International Joint Commission.

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Suit filed over waste

glbm — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 11:55:16 +0000

Windsor Star

Mar 11 2011

The Canadian Environmental Law Association and Sierra Club Canada have launched legal action against a plan to ship radioactive waste through the Great Lakes. The two groups want the Federal Court of Canada to hear a judicial review of two approvals issued by the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission that would allow Bruce Power Inc. to ship and export 16 decommissioned steam generators.

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Details of 2011 shipping season announced

glbm — Fri, 18 Feb 2011 11:44:15 +0000

Duluth News Tribune

Feb 18 2011

The Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Seaway System announced Wednesday opening dates and maximum allowable drafts for the 2011 navigation season. The season will open March 22 at Montreal, on Lake Ontario and through the Welland Canal.

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Indiana ports: Shipments up 8 percent to 7.7M tons

glbm — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 12:01:29 +0000

Wall Street Journal

Feb 15 2011

MOUNT VERNON, Ind. — Authorities say Indiana's ports saw an 8 percent increase in cargo in 2010, thanks to an increase in agricultural shipments. The Ports of Indiana said Tuesday that the three ports on the Ohio River and Lake Michigan handled 7.7 million tons of cargo last year. Ports chief executive Rich Cooper says it's one of the best years on record and is the third straight year-to-year increase.

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Outreach session on Great Lakes shipping set for Feb. 23

glbm — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 11:45:05 +0000

Duluth News Tribune

Feb 10 2011

The federal government has launched an effort to determine what it will take to strengthen the Great Lakes water transportation system. The U.S.-flag Great Lakes Fleet Revitalization Study includes three regional outreach meetings at Great Lakes ports this month — including one Feb. 23 in Duluth. Today is the deadline to register for the Duluth session.

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New York allows Seaway vessels more time to comply with environmental rules

glbm — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 11:51:10 +0000

Globe and Mail

Feb 9 2011

The New York state government has given commercial vessels using the St. Lawrence Seaway more time to comply with strict new environmental regulations that threatened to shut down commercial shipping on the Great Lakes at the end of the year.

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Environmental standoff threatens traffic on St. Lawrence Seaway

glbm — Tue, 08 Feb 2011 11:49:23 +0000

Globe and Mail

Feb 7 2011

Next year, commercial shipping could disappear from the St. Lawrence Seaway, devastating the Great Lakes economies and throwing thousands of people out of work, thanks to an obscure regulation passed by the State of New York. “As it stands right now, they have a regulation that comes into play in Jan. 1, 2012 that ships won’t be able to comply with,” Tim Meisner, director-general of marine policy at Transport Canada, said in an interview.

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Great Lakes Nuclear Waste Shipments Disappoint Mayors

glbm — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 11:49:33 +0000

Feb 6 2011

Representatives of the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative say they are disappointed with the decision by the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) to approve the shipment of 16 radioactive waste steam generators on the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River. The Great Lakes and St. Lawrence form the largest body of fresh water in the world. Over 20 million Canadians and Americans live close to the shoreline of this vast basin, and over 40 million rely on them for their safe drinking water.

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Port of Muskegon activity stable as community receives statewide attention

glbm — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 11:47:05 +0000

Muskegon Chronicle

Jan 30 2011

During a year in which Muskegon’s port was put on Michigan’s center stage, shipping activity in and out of Muskegon stayed pretty much the same. Numbers for the local shipping season are in contrast to Great Lakes freight shipments that increased by a third in 2010, the Lake Carriers' Association reports.

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'Winter fleet' moves into Bay Shipbuilding

glbm — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 11:49:30 +0000

Green Bay Press Gazette

Jan 22 2011

The view from the top of the hill on Madison Avenue looks like a great steel city on Sturgeon Bay every winter, and this year is no exception as up to 15 Great Lakes freighters dock at Bay Shipbuilding Co. for off-season maintenance.

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Great Lakes cargo shipping way up in '10

glbm — Thu, 20 Jan 2011 11:50:15 +0000

Wall Street Journal

Jan 19 2011

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. — Shipments of bulk cargo such as iron ore on the Great Lakes jumped by one-third last year, a hopeful sign for a region battered by the recession, an industry spokesman said Wednesday. The Lake Carriers Association credited a gradually healing economy for the increase in waterborne transport of coal, limestone, sand and other raw materials. But the dramatic statistical improvement in 2010 also reflects the industry's dismal showing the previous year.

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