St. Lawrence forecasts 3% growth in 2012

   The St. Lawrence Seaway opened its 54th annual shipping season on Thursday.
   Canada’s St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corp. (SLSMC), which along with the U.S. Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corp. manages the waterway, predicted that cargo shipments would rise by about 3 percent to 38.6 million tons in 2012.
   SLSMC said “exports of coal are expected to be a bright spot, as producers in Montana route their product by rail to Great Lakes ports, where the cargo is loaded onto lakers and brought to the Port of Quebec via the Seaway. The coal is subsequently transshipped to ocean vessels destined for Europe, avoiding congested coastal ports.”
   Canadian and international carriers are in the process of building new vessels, with some scheduled to begin transiting Seaway waters in 2012.
   Collister Johnson Jr., administrator of the U.S. Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corp., said with carriers investing hundreds of millions of dollars in fleet renewal, the Seaway’s future is bright. “Marine transportation is already the most energy efficient means of moving cargo, and these new vessels will increase energy efficiency by up to 40 percent in addition to offering leading edge emissions performance,” he said.
   A tug/barge unit used to transport aluminum ingots, McKeil Marine’s Wilf Seymour/Alouette Spirit, was the first vessel to transit the Welland Canal, which included the annual “top hat” ceremony – a tradition since 1947 where a top hat is presented to the captain of the season’s first vessel.
   Peter Laman, port director at the Port of Indiana-Burns Harbor, said his port was “looking forward to a solid shipping season in 2012.” The port noted that for the 2012 season Seaway management added a new business growth incentive with a 20 percent rebate on cargo tolls to carriers offering a new service from Great Lakes ports to global markets. It said there are existing programs offering a 20 percent discount on tolls for a new cargo, origin or destination, and a 10 percent reduction on tolls for certain volume discounts.
   Indiana’s first international ship is tentatively scheduled to arrive at the Port of Indiana-Burns Harbor on April 7. The Isadora, a Polsteam vessel, is traveling from Ijmuiden, the Netherlands.