As Great Lakes shipping ends season, Twin Ports to host 8 lakers for winter work
Jan. 12—DULUTH — As the Soo Locks close for winter Monday, interlake shipments of iron ore, coal, salt, cement, limestone and other cargo on the upper Great Lakes will come to a halt for about 10 weeks, but the Twin Ports will continue to see action on board several lakers.
Eight Great Lakes freighters are scheduled to spend the winter in the Twin Ports, where they will get seasonal maintenance and repairs, according to the Duluth Seaway Port Authority.
The John G. Munson, Bai Comeau, Paul R. Tregurtha, Lee A. Tregurtha, Manitoulin, Arthur M. Anderson, John J. Boland and the American Spirit will be docked at various locations across the harbor, including
Fraser Shipyards.
The winter work on the eight lakers combined is expected to employ more than 100 skilled tradespeople, the Port Authority added.
The Poe Lock at the Soo will reopen March 25 with the MacArthur Lock set to reopen April 24 after a busy winter of repairs and improvements, according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
On average, more than 4,500 vessels, carrying up to 80 million tons of cargo, maneuver through the locks annually. Iron ore, coal, wheat and limestone are among the most frequently carried commodities. Opened in 1969, the Poe Lock is 1,200 feet long. The MacArthur Lock was opened in 1943 and is 800 feet long.
Oceangoing freighter traffic in the Twin Ports ended Dec. 29, making it the longest saltwater shipping season ever for the port. Saltwater freighters had to exit the Welland Canal and leave the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River system by Jan. 7 when the canal closed to traffic.
It was a good season for iron ore shipments on the Great Lakes, a sign that Minnesota's taconite iron ore mining and processing operations are running well.
Great Lakes iron ore pellet shipments hit 51.1 million tons in 2023, up 20.7% from 2022 and 4.5% over the five-year average, according to the Cleveland-based Lake Carriers' Association.
Total maritime tonnage through the Port of Duluth-Superior in December was just over 3 million short tons, the largest December float since 2018 saw 3.8 million tons. The big month put total maritime tonnage through Duluth-Superior ahead of last season's pace by 5.3% and within 0.2% of the five-season average, according to the Duluth Seaway Port Authority.
That includes nearly 2 million short tons of iron ore in December 2023, the most for the month since 2018. Total iron ore tonnage through Duluth-Superior is 14.5% ahead of last season's pace and 11.9% ahead of the five-season average.
Total grain tonnage for Duluth-Superior is still well below the historical averages, but buoyed by a fourth-quarter rally it is 23.7% ahead of last season's pace. Meanwhile, cement tonnage will top the five-season average by 31%.
The 2023 container count through the port will exceed the 2022 count, due in part to the successful launch of
Spliethoff's monthly Duluth-Antwerp liner service
with Duluth Cargo Connect. It marked the first regular trans-Atlantic liner service in this port since the 1970s, as opposed to the customary chartered container ship arrivals for specific cargo.
Total vessel arrivals for the Duluth-Superior port during the 2023 navigation season will approach 800 when the final count arrives next week.
