Great Lakes – Professional Mariner

22 Nov

Great Lakes Towing acquires former Cleveland fireboat

Professional Mariner StaffTugboats & TowingFireboats, Great Lakes, Ports

(CLEVELAND) — The Great Lakes Towing Co., (GLT), a leader in specialized marine services, has acquired the fireboat Anthony J. Celebrezze, formerly owned by the city of Cleveland. The purchase is intended to provide GLT with a firefighting platform for response to a shipboard or shoreside fire, particularly in those ports where a high volume of winter ship repair work…

16 Feb

Great Lakes iron ore cargoes hold steady in January

Rich MillerMaritime NewsGreat Lakes, Ports, shipping

(CLEVELAND) — Iron ore shipments on the Great Lakes totaled 2.5 million tons in January, a near match to 2022. Loadings were above the month’s five-year average by 21.3 percent, according to the Lake Carriers' Association (LCA). Since 1880, the LCA has represented the U.S.-flag Great Lakes fleet, which today can move more than 90 million tons of cargoes annually…

06 Feb

U.S. shippers investing $126 million on lakers in layup

Rich MillerMaritime NewsGreat Lakes, shipping

(CLEVELAND) — U.S. shipping companies operating exclusively on the Great Lakes have transitioned from sailing to the annual process of repairing, maintaining and modernizing their fleet of lakers. Vessels ranging in length from over 1,000 feet to smaller tug and barge combinations have taken to docks and ship repair facilities around the Great Lakes region. This year alone, U.S. Great…

13 Sep

Coast Guard aims to boost Great Lakes pilotage rates

Rich MillerMaritime NewsGreat Lakes, Pilots, shipping

(WASHINGTON) — The U.S. Coast Guard has published a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) in the Federal Register outlining pilotage rates for the U.S. Great Lakes pilotage system for the 2023 shipping season. The Coast Guard has proposed a 14 percent cost increase due to inflation and the addition of four new pilots. The agency has requested public comment on…

31 Mar

US Great Lakes pilotage rates rising 7 percent

Rich MillerMaritime NewsCoast Guard, Great Lakes, shipping

(WASHINGTON) — The U.S. Coast Guard on Wednesday published a final rule in the Federal Register outlining U.S. Great Lakes pilotage rates for the 2022 shipping season. The agency had first published proposed rates and requested public comment on Sept. 14. The Coast Guard final rule increases the overall cost of U.S. Great Lakes pilotage in 2022 compared to 2021…

23 Mar

Chamber honors 3 lawmakers for Great Lakes icebreaker advocacy

Rich MillerIndustry NewsGreat Lakes, Icebreaking

(OTTAWA, Ontario) — As the shipping season officially opens this week, the Chamber of Marine Commerce is honoring three U.S. congressional leaders for their tireless efforts to increase U.S. Coast Guard icebreaking capacity on the Great Lakes. The Coast Guard, in partnership with its Canadian counterparts, is responsible for breaking ice during the winter and spring to help ships safely…

10 Jan

Ice rescue highlights need for caution near Port of Green Bay

Rich MillerMaritime NewsGreat Lakes

(GREEN BAY, Wis.) — The weekend ice rescue on the bay of Green Bay should serve as a notice of the danger on the bay this time of year. Twenty-seven people were rescued after an ice shove was created by high winds blowing across the ice and open water areas of the lower bay. While the weekend incident was a…

15 Oct

Brownwater News October 2020

Professional Mariner StaffNewsletterarmy corps, california, Great Lakes, maritime news, new orleans, news

Work begins on deepening Lower Mississippi channel Weeks Marine has started work to provide a draft of 50 feet from Port of Greater Baton Rouge in Louisiana to the Gulf of Mexico — more than 250 miles along the Mississippi River. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers awarded the first contract for the channel deepening to Weeks and a second…

01 Oct

LCA calls Canadian ballast water proposal ‘economic power grab’

Professional Mariner StaffMaritime NewsCanada, Great Lakes, laker

A dispute over ballast water practices could be cover for an economic show of force to block U.S.-flagged vessels from Canadian ports on the Great Lakes, according to the Lake Carriers’ Association, which has asked the Federal Maritime Commission to investigate new regulations proposed by Ottawa. James Weakley, president of the Ohio-based LCA, said the proposal would force U.S. ships…

01 Oct

New Great Lakes bulk carrier first built in US in nearly 40 years

Professional Mariner StaffMaritime News, ShipbuildingFincantieri, Great Lakes, shipbuilding

A U.S.-flagged bulk carrier is being built in the Great Lakes region for the first time since 1983. Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding of Sturgeon Bay, Wis., is midway through the two-year project for Interlake Steamship Co., based in Middleburg Heights, Ohio. Among its cargoes, the River-class self-unloading ship is anticipated to carry iron ore from Minnesota’s Mesabi Range to a Burns…