Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Seaway System – Page 5

05 Dec

United Seamen’s Service honors Barker, Pasha, Vokac

Professional Mariner StaffIndustry NewsGreat Lakes-St. Lawrence Seaway System, Licensing and training, shipping

(NEW YORK) — The United Seamen’s Service (USS) presented its 54th annual Admiral of the Ocean Sea (AOTOS) Awards on Dec. 1 to Mark Barker, president of Interlake Maritime Services; George Pasha IV, president and CEO of The Pasha Group; and Adam Vokac, district and national president of the Marine Engineers’ Beneficial Association (MEBA). The traditional silver statuette of Christopher…

01 Dec

Lakes limestone trade jumps 22.8 percent in November

Professional Mariner StaffMaritime NewsGreat Lakes-St. Lawrence Seaway System, Ports, shipping

(CLEVELAND) — Shipments of limestone on the Great Lakes totaled 3.1 million tons in November, an increase of 22.8 percent compared to a year ago. Limestone cargoes were 7.3 percent above the month’s five-year average. Loadings from U.S. quarries increased 23.6 percent from 2022 to 2.6 million tons. Shipments from Canadian quarries totaled 536,912 tons, an increase of 19.2 percent.…

21 Nov

EPA seeks to revise ballast water discharge requirements

Professional Mariner StaffMaritime NewsEPA, Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Seaway System, Regulation, shipping

(WASHINGTON) — The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently published a supplemental notice of proposed rulemaking (SNPRM) in the Federal Register, requesting public comment on modifications to the agency's 2020 proposed rule implementing the Vessel Incidental Discharge Act (VIDA). The law seeks to regulate a variety of discharges from commercial vessels, including ballast water discharges. Since the late 1980s, ships' ballast…

08 Nov

Great Lakes iron ore cargoes up 8.5 percent in October

Professional Mariner StaffMaritime NewsGreat Lakes-St. Lawrence Seaway System, Ports, shipping

(CLEVELAND) — Shipments of iron ore on the Great Lakes totaled 5.1 million tons in October, an increase of 8.5 percent compared to a year ago, according to the Lake Carriers' Association. Shipments were a near match to the month’s five-year average. Year to date, the iron ore trade stands at 41.8 million tons, an increase of 23.3 percent compared…

30 Oct

Tentative deal ends strike that restricted Seaway traffic

Professional Mariner StaffMaritime NewsGreat Lakes-St. Lawrence Seaway System, Ports, shipping

(WASHINGTON) — Negotiators reached a tentative agreement Sunday night on a new labor contract between the St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corp. (SLSMC) and its unionized workers who had gone on strike a week earlier. Canadian portions of the Seaway were closed for eight days, blocking international commerce to and from all Great Lakes ports. During the coming week, UNIFOR members…

22 Oct

Strike shuts down Canadian portions of Seaway

Professional Mariner StaffMaritime NewsGreat Lakes-St. Lawrence Seaway System, shipping

(WASHINGTON) — Just after midnight Saturday, the unionized workers of the St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corp. (SLSMC) went on strike, resulting in the shutdown of Canadian portions of the St. Lawrence Seaway. This is the first time the Seaway has shut down since 1968. Negotiators from the SLSMC and UNIFOR, the workers' union, had attempted to reach agreement on a…

11 Oct

Great Lakes iron ore trade up 10 percent in September

Professional Mariner StaffMaritime NewsGreat Lakes-St. Lawrence Seaway System, Ports, shipping

(CLEVELAND) — Shipments of iron ore from U.S. ports on the Great Lakes totaled 5.6 million tons in September, an increase of 10.1 percent compared to a year ago. Shipments were also above the month’s five-year average by 7.4 percent, according to the Lake Carriers' Association (LCA). Year to date, the iron ore trade stands at 36.7 million tons, an…

26 Sep

Freighter freed two days after grounding in St. Lawrence Seaway

Professional Mariner StaffCasualty NewsGreat Lakes-St. Lawrence Seaway System, shipping

(CORNWALL, Ontario) — A grounded cement carrier that ran aground Sunday in the St. Lawrence Seaway, blocking the transit of more than a dozen ships, was refloated Tuesday morning with the assistance of tugboats, according to news reports and the waterway's managers. NACC Argonaut was en route from Montreal to Oshawa, Ontario, when it grounded between St. Regis and Cornwall…

22 Sep

Construction cargoes drive Great Lakes traffic in August

Professional Mariner StaffMaritime NewsGreat Lakes-St. Lawrence Seaway System, Ports, shipping

(OTTAWA, Ontario) — Overall shipping activity on the U.S. Great Lakes in 2023 continues in lockstep with the previous year, with approximately 19.9 million tonnes of total cargo traffic traveling the seaway system for the year to date. In 2022, the total traffic to the end of August was 19.8 million tonnes. While there has been year-to-year variation in the…

15 Sep

Canadian Coast Guard dedicates third converted icebreaker

Professional Mariner StaffMaritime NewsGreat Lakes-St. Lawrence Seaway System, Icebreakers, shipbuilding

(QUEBEC CITY) — Icebreakers are an essential component of the Canadian Coast Guard fleet, ensuring safe navigation, preventing ice jams and flooding, and keeping shipping routes open. On Monday, CCGS Vincent Massey, the third of three medium interim icebreakers, was officially welcomed to the fleet at a dedication ceremony in Quebec City. At the dockside event, the sponsor of the…