greatlakesshipwatchers.com

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to our RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

by Bob VandeVusse | Source: Holland Sentinel

[At the Straits of Mackinac,] we saw a parade of freighters and caught a glimpse of the Coast Guard cutter Mackinaw tied up at St. Ignace, preparing for winter buoy work.

We did get a report that the Calumet arrived in Holland with a load of stone for the Verplank dock Saturday morning, but if you live near Lake Mac, you already knew that. With foggy conditions on most of the lake, it sounded its horn for five seconds every minute. No sleeping in this weekend.

We will likely see the Calumet a couple of more times this week, as they were scheduled to return to Port Inland, on the northern shore of Lake Michigan, to bring another load of stone for Verplank’s. That will probably arrive on Monday. Then it will head to Chicago, to the KCBX trans-loading facility, to pick up a load of coal and return to the James De Young Power Plant. After that, we can probably count our season’s remaining loads on our fingers, maybe using only one hand.

Read Bob’s full report at the Holland Sentinel >>

Source: USW

The Canadian Marine Officers Union is joining the United Steelworkers (FTQ). The CMOU represents 800 members, most of them in Quebec, Ontario and the Atlantic Provinces. “We are very pleased to welcome this union to the United Steelworkers (FTQ). This represents a breakthrough into an important economic sector for us. We will now become the largest union representing merchant mariners in both Quebec and Canada, and we will be a significant presence in North America as a whole,” said Daniel Roy, Director of the United Steelworkers (FTQ). Read the rest of this entry »

by Dan Egan | Source: Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel

The fish have migrated to within 15 miles of the new barrier. The only defense for the Great Lakes for the past several years has been a smaller, weaker “experimental” barrier that has a history of failing and that biologists believe is not strong enough to repel juvenile carp, which, because of their size, are less affected by electrified water.

Some Great Lakes advocates are beyond frustrated with the way the Army Corps of Engineers has handled the project, noting that the ravenous filter-feeders, disparagingly dubbed the “100-pound zebra mussel,” could destroy what’s left of the lakes’ ecological integrity and multibillion-dollar fishing and tourist industries.

“They are not looking out for the public’s interest,” charges Tom Marks of the New York chapter of the Great Lakes Sport Fishing Council. “They’re looking out for the barge operators.”

To date nearly $1 million has been spent to examine such things as what would happen if someone tumbles off a barge and into the electrified water in the barrier zone, which covers a half-mile of canal.

According to documents the Journal Sentinel obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, the U.S. Navy’s Experimental Diving Unit was hired to do that job. It took $100,000 and more than a year of computer modeling and analysis, but the Navy has finally reached a conclusion: Similar to falling into icy water, you might be incapacitated and die. Or, you might not.

Read the full story, concerns, quotes and many more details at the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel >>

Source: GreenBuildIndiana

The partnership between the United Steelworkers and the Sierra Club (did you ever imagine these two groups would unite behind a common cause?) means to accelerate green job growth in NW Indiana.  The coalition wants to make it clear that “the choice between jobs and the environment is a phony choice…We can have both,” says Jim Robinson, Director of USW District 7.

Read the full entry at Green Build Indiana >>

By MARK WILLIAMS | Source: Mining Journal

COLUMBUS, Ohio - A hedge fund lost the fight to double its holdings in Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. on Friday, a move that would have allowed it to block the iron ore miner’s $4 billion buyout of Alpha Natural Resources.

Cleveland-Cliffs shareholders on Friday voted against the request by Harbinger Capital Partners to buy up to a third of the company’s shares. Harbinger needed shareholder backing under state law.

Read the full story at the Mining Journal >>

Jim Carroll | Source: GoErie.com

The Port of Erie might soon lose its water route to the Atlantic Ocean.

Canadian lock workers are threatening a strike that could shut down the St. Lawrence Seaway, the inland waterway that connects the Great Lakes to the Atlantic.

“It could affect us a bit,” said Tod Eagleton, dock operations supervisor for Erie Sand & Gravel, which serves as the stevedore for the Port of Erie.

Most affected could be Erie’s biodiesel producer.

… Lake Erie Biofuels hopes to send at least two more shipments of its biodiesel fuel to Europe before the Great Lakes shipping season ends in December. A strike on the St. Lawrence Seaway would complicate that.

Peterson said a shutdown of the St. Lawrence Seaway would not halt the company’s overseas shipments, but it would change how it gets there and what they’d have to charge.

… the company expects to ship its biodiesel to Europe in tankers filled with anywhere from 1.5 million gallons to 3 million gallons.

… Of the 34 vessels that have arrived in Erie this season, seven have been international ships, Eagleton said.

Those consisted of six tankers and one cargo ship delivering 775 tons of equipment bound for a mill in New Castle.

Limestone is the biggest volume cargo that comes into Erie, and Ray Schreckengost, executive director of the Erie-Western Pennsylvania Port Authority, said a shutdown of the Seaway would not impact that type of Great Lakes cargo.

Salt shipments from upstate New York might be affected, but salt has already been stockpiled at the local docks, he said.

Other companies affected, alternative routes and comments on Erie Terminal at GoErie.com >>

By RICK BARRETT | Source: Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel

The shipbuilding division of Manitowoc Co. has lost a bid to build up to $1.5 billion worth of U.S. Coast Guard cutters.

… Manitowoc lost the bid to build up to 34 cutters to Bollinger Shipyards Inc. of Lockport, La. Bollinger has been awarded an $88 million contract for the design and construction of the first of the cutters, which are supposed to be fast-response vessels 153 feet long and capable of speeds exceeding 28 knots.

Manitowoc and Marinette Marine are reviewing the contract decision to decide whether to appeal.

“We were surprised and certainly disappointed,” McCreary said.

… The loss of the Coast Guard bid comes as Manitowoc Co. is selling its marine division, including Marinette Marine, to Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri.

It’s unknown whether the loss of the Coast Guard bid will affect the $120 million cash sale that’s expected to close yet this year.

Read about pending Navy contract, more at the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel >>

Source: RedOrbit

A new rule requiring all ships to flush their ballast tanks in the Atlantic Ocean before entering the Saint Lawrence Seaway should be enough to save the Great Lakes, an expert says.

Collister Johnson, administrator of the Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation said the rule solves the issue of protecting the five lakes from invasive species carried by incoming ships.

“I just wonder sometimes if (environmental groups) appreciate that they’ve won the battle. And whether we ought to move on to other things like sewage runoff, and infrastructure, and other things that are problems for the Great Lakes,” Johnson said.

Read the full story at RedOrbit >>

Source: International Lake Superior Board of Control

The International Lake Superior Board of Control, under authority granted to it by the International Joint Commission, has set the Lake Superior outflow to 2,050 cubic metres per second (m3/s) (72.4thousand cubic feet per second (tcfs)) for the month of October. Read the rest of this entry »

Source: Express India

Sault Ste. Marie (Canada), October 2: Essar Steel is pumping in USD 160 million (nearly Rs 740 crore) into its Canadian operations to ramp up production to 3.6 million tonnes per annum to feed demand in North America, set up a captive power plant and clean up the environment.

… The company would spend USD 160 million to further increase production by 1 MT in the 12 months to March 31, 2009.

A chunk of the investment would go towards setting up a co-generation power plant that would cut the steel plant’s energy requirements by half. The captive power plant would use waste fuel from the steel plant to produce electricity and is expected to be commissioned by January next year.

Essar Steel Algoma also hopes to achieve greater synergies once its sister concern Essar Steel Minnesota, an integrated plant with its own iron ore reserves in the US, starts feeding it with the key raw material.

The Algoma plant currently sources ore from Cleveland Cliffs and coal from Massey in West Virginia in the US. The company last month announced an USD 1.6 billion investment in its Minnesota operations, where it would be setting up a 2.5 MTPA steel plant.

Read more etails about N.A. steel market, Essar Algoma’s local environmental efforts and planned Sault operations at Express India >>

by Jeff Kart | Source: Bay City Times (photos)

A plastic pipe is spewing black water onto a man-made island in Saginaw Bay.

The stinky stuff is coming from a dredging barge in the distance that’s sucking up silt and pumping the contents into the Saginaw Bay Confined Disposal Facility.

When the Corps finished constructing the island in October 1978, it was designed to last about 10 years, and hold 10 million cubic yards of dredged material from the Lower Saginaw River and Bay, said Ken Drum, an engineering technician for the Corps in Detroit.

With modifications made since then, the CDF now has about 800,000 cubic yards, or eight years, of capacity left, said Angie Mundell, project manager for the Corps in Detroit.

Duerod said she thinks the Corps is about two years away from facing a “crucial need” to address the island’s capacity. That could mean raising the dikes or, less likely, looking for space for a new dredging disposal site, she said.

Last fall, MCM Marine Inc. of Sault Ste. Marie began dredging about two miles of the bay channel under a $1.3 million contract.

The company expects to pipe more than 300,000 cubic yards of dredgings to Channel Island before the work is finished in October, said Ferguson, construction representative from the Corps’ Detroit office.

“It’s like a super vacuum cleaner,” he said of the hydraulic dredging being done by MCM.

The dredgings - about 80 percent water and 20 percent sediment - take years before they turn from black gunk to what looks like fresh beach sand.

But “wash your hands,” Ferguson cautions after a visitor scoops up a bit of the dried dredgings.

Read the full story, see photos at the Bay City Times >>

Related: Michigan could find energy windfall just off its shores - Detroit Free Press

By TINA LAM | Source: Detroit Free Press

Michigan has far greater potential for wind energy than anyone previously thought — offshore in the Great Lakes that surround it, according to a new report.

The report by Michigan State University’s Land Policy Institute said Michigan could produce as much as 321,000 megawatts of electricity from offshore wind, if turbines could be erected at any depth, without regard to shipping lanes or aesthetic concerns.

That’s more than 10 times the amount of electricity generated now statewide, at its peak, from all sources, including coal and nuclear plants, the report said.

Read the full story at the Detroit Free Press >>

Lisa Grace Marr | Source: Hamilton Spectator

ArcelorMittal Dofasco will scale back steel production in the second half of the year as it struggles with a weakening customer base and “tough economic times.”

The company indicated it would be reducing output in its steelmaking and finishing operations.

It also plans to cut back on overtime and will reduce its casual employee base. Full-time jobs will not be affected at this time, it said.

More about this move at the Hamilton Spectator >>

Source: LCA

Cleveland - A malfunction of the Poe Lock at Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, on September 24 has illustrated the pressing need for Congress to appropriate the funds to build another lock capable of handling the largest U.S.-Flag Great Lakes freighters.

Although the vessel delays totaled only about three hours, had the problem been more severe, cargo movement on the Lakes would have slowed to a trickle. U.S.-Flag Lakers whose length and/or beam restrict them to the Poe Lock represent 70 percent of U.S.-Flag carrying capacity.

“The Poe Lock that connects Lake Superior to the lower Great Lakes is the single point of failure that can cripple Great Lakes shipping,” said James H.I. Weakley, President of Lake Carriers’ Association. “In 2007, the Poe Lock handled nearly 65 million tons of cargo. Without that lock, America’s steel industry is cut off from its major source of iron ore. Without that lock, Great Lakes basin utilities are denied access to clean-burning low-sulfur coal. There just aren’t enough ships that are small enough to transit the MacArthur Lock to make up for loss of Poe-class vessels.” Read the rest of this entry »

Source: Forbes

Shares of steel producers fell hard Monday after buyers virtually suspended purchases in the expectation that the cost of steel product will fall.

“Basically what happened is that the price of scrap steel plummeted in late August and early September between a third and a half, between $250 per ton and $300 per ton,” Bradford said.

“But steel mills have only cut their prices by about $100 per ton, so buyers have been waiting for them to cut their prices accordingly.”

Read the full story, stats at Forbes >>

by Jeff Alexander | Source: The Muskegon Chronicle

Freighters may continue to wash unlimited quantities of coal, limestone and other dry cargo residues into the Great Lakes under a new federal policy.

The U.S. Coast Guard Monday finalized an interim policy that allows the long-standing but controversial — and possibly illegal — practice of washing dry cargo residues into the lakes to continue indefinitely. The policy enacted Monday replaces a 1998 interim policy.

The new policy requires shippers to keep records of where and when they wash cargo residuals into the lakes and the quantities involved. It also banned the practice, known as washdown or dry cargo sweeping, in 11 ecologically sensitive areas on the lakes.

Read the for/against reactions from many stakeholders >>

Source: Great Lakes Environment

Sep 29: The U.S. Coast Guard announced in the Federal Register [73 FR 56492-56501] that it is amending its regulations to allow the discharge of bulk dry cargo residue (DCR) in limited areas of the Great Lakes by self-propelled vessels and by any barge that is part of an integrated tug and barge unit.

DCR is the residue of non-toxic and non-hazardous bulk dry cargo like limestone, iron ore, and coal.

The regulations also add new recordkeeping and reporting requirements and encourage carriers to adopt voluntary control measures for reducing discharges. Discharges are now prohibited in certain protected and sensitive areas where, previously, they were allowed.

The Coast Guard also requests public comments on the need for and feasibility of additional conditions that might be imposed on discharges in the future, such as mandatory use of control measures, or further adjustments to the areas where discharges are allowed or prohibited.

…Comments and related material submitted in response to the request for comments must be received before January 15, 2009.

Find out where dumping is prohibited, how you can still participate in the process, at Great Lakes Environment >>

by Bob VandeVusse | Source: Holland Sentinel

After two and a half weeks of inactivity, we finally had a freighter on Lake Macatawa on Thursday, as the Wilfred Sykes delivered coal to the James DeYoung power plant. It arrived shortly after midnight and departed after 8 a.m. The departure was a lengthy endeavor, as the captain seemed to avoid using the bow thruster to turn around so as not to damage the dock repairs that are nearing completion at the Verplank dock. This was only our second delivery in the last month.

As the season winds down, we expect to see two more coal deliveries and several more loads of stone. Once the construction is finished on the Verplank dock, we should see the east end of the facility fill up. Brewer’s should see some more activity, as well.

Read more about expected deliveries in Holland at the Holland Sentinel >>

Source: SteelGuru

The Platts reference prices of imported and domestic made hot rolled and cold rolled coil in the US market plunged amid reports of US mill sales reps calling buyers almost non stop seeking October 2008 orders.

There has also been a resurgence of low-priced offers from offshore producers, mainly HRC from Russia and CRC from China and Finland.

The major flat rolling mills namely US Steel, Nucor and ArcelorMittal, had been trying to separately hold offers within a range of USD 1,000 to USD 1,020 per short tonne ex-works in the case of HRC. That stance, however, was undermined by…

Read the full piece at SteelGuru >>