Great Lakes’ Lower Water Levels Propel a Cascade of Hardships
January 27, 08 by TheFleetIf you're new here, you may want to subscribe to our RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!
By Kari Lydersen | Source: Washington Post
The low water has forced freighters that haul iron ore, steel, limestone and other raw materials to lighten their loads and change their routes to avoid running aground in shallow harbors and waterways.
“They literally do load these ships by the inch,” said Stuart H. Theis, executive director of the U.S. Great Lakes Shipping Association. “To the lowest common denominator, the shallowest point along the way.”
In the past two years, freighters have hit bottom or had to turn around in numerous locations, including Muskegon Harbor and the Saginaw River in Michigan and Rochester, N.Y.
…LCA spokesman Glen Nekvasil said vessels were running an average of 15 percent below capacity last season. Depending on the size of the ship, every inch of lost draft — the depth to which a ship descends — means 50 to 270 tons less cargo.
“And we’re not talking inches, we’re talking feet,” Nekvasil said. “It’s not just affecting the steamships; it’s the steelworkers who depend on that iron ore, the workers at the limestone quarries. We move the raw materials that keep everyone else going.”
