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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: 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 >>

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 >>

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 »

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 >>

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: ReliablePlant.com

New mine development in Canada and the U.S. has risen rapidly in the last few years as worldwide demand for coal, iron ore, copper, molybdenum, potash and uranium has led to a record number of mine projects under development, currently peaking at more than 220 coal, metals and minerals mines in various stages of planning, engineering and/or construction. These mines represent more than $113 billion in total investment value.

These new mines are highlighted on Industrial Info’s new Canada & U.S. Mining Industry Wall Map. This first-edition map features details of more than 930 operational mines and 220 mines under development in the U.S. and Canada.

Data the map includes, preview and more information at ReliablePlant.com >>

By JOHN FLESHER | Source: Chicago Tribune

Day after day, ships longer than three football fields depart Great Lakes ports after picking up or delivering loads of iron ore, coal and other cargo. Reaching open water, crews wash the decks with high-powered hoses.

It’s called “cargo sweeping,” because residues that spill onto decks during loading and unloading are swept overboard. The U.S. Coast Guard estimates that 1 million pounds of such debris is washed into the lakes every year.

… But shippers say requiring them to collect the residue, move it onshore for treatment and flush it into municipal wastewater systems would impose ruinous costs. A Coast Guard report last month estimated the price tag at $51.8 million up front, plus $35.7 million a year — more than the annual profit for the entire industry.

“What some are proposing could mean the end of Great Lakes shipping and the movement of cargo by more expensive and less eco-friendly modes of transportation,” said Glen Nekvasil, spokesman for the Lake Carriers Association, which represents U.S.-flagged freighters on the Great Lakes.

Nice analysis of the conflict, quotes from both sides at the Chicago Tribune >>

Peter Passi | Source: Duluth News Tribune

Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. plans to build a plant near Orr that produces biomass fuel for its taconite operations.

The project, announced at a press conference this morning at the Orr City Hall, is expected to directly create jobs for about 25 people, with an annual payroll of more than $1 million. It also would provide additional work and revenue for loggers, suppliers, vendors and farmers in the area.

The proposed $15 million, 100,000-square-foot facility would be located four miles north of Orr in the small town of Cusson.

Read the full story at the Duluth News Tribune >>

Bob VandeVusse | Source: The Holland Sentinel

Delays have continued to plague coal deliveries in Holland for the past week. The expected load on the Manistee was canceled.

It has been reported that Lower Lakes Towing has signed a major transportation contract for ore pellets with Essar Steel Algoma, of Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. That means that their vessels Manitowoc, Manistee, Maumee and Calumet may be unavailable for coal and stone loads. That could create a hardship for docks in small harbors like Holland, as those vessels in the 600-foot range are ideal for harbors like ours.

The coal delivery on the Wilfred Sykes has been delayed, as well. It is now expected to load today and arrive early Monday morning.

Read the full article at the Holland Sentinel >>

Source: Sandusky Register

… new research on the effects of global warming on Lake Erie, to be discussed in a paper being prepared for submission to the Journal of Great Lakes Research, suggests that Lake Erie’s water level could fall as much as 1.2 feet by 2050.

That has important implications on the area’s economy, because it would hurt Great Lakes shipping, Wuebbles said.

“One inch could cause a very huge impact,” he said.

Jim Weakley, president of the Lake Carriers Association in Cleveland, said he is not an expert on global warming, but his organization has calculated the effect of shallower water, whether it’s caused by global warming, lack of dredging or another reason.

When one of the 1,000-foot vessels with U.S. flags in the Lake Carriers Association lose one inch of water, it means the ship can carry 8,000 tons less cargo, Weakley said. That’s enough coal to provide three hours of electricity for Greater Detroit. That one-inch loss means the U.S.-flagged Great Lakes fleet — 63 ships total, including the 13 1,000-footers — would carry 400,000 fewer tons a year.

One “laker,” as the freighters are called, can carry as much cargo as 2,800 trucks, Weakley’s group says.

Full story on many levels of impact, lively comments at the Sandusky Register >>

Source: The Beacon, Column

Last week I began writing about a trip my brother, Tom Allen, took on the lake freighter Herbert C Jackson July 2-10. His friend, Charlie Ontko, had invited Tom to go on a working trip on this boat. They left from Toledo, loaded with coal, went across the western end of Lake Erie, up Detroit River, Lake St Clair, St Clair River and most of the length of Lake Huron.

… On July 5 the Herbert C Jackson was traveling “light ballast” (no freight) as she made her way out the St Mary’s River, through Whitefish Bay and thence onto mighty Lake Superior. Destination: Duluth, Minnesota, at the extreme western end of the lake.

The weather was good, sunny and fine. However, the water temperature of Superior was only 48 degrees so that kept things cool. The guys wore jackets or sweatshirts most of the time.

On Saturday night, just as darkness was coming down, they passed the Keweenaw Peninsula jutting out from the Michigan shore. Tom called home and said they were close enough to see lights from vehicles on shore.

…At Superior they loaded coal for Marquette, Michigan. They didn’t get off the boat at all because they were waiting for officials to check their identification papers. Soon they were underway again, back out the river and heading toward where they would round the Keewenaw Peninsula and then “short-cut” down to Marquette.

At Marquette they unloaded the coal, moved to another dock and loaded iron ore pellets. Tom told us later that the loading and unloading procedures are fascinating. The boat carries ballast water and while loading and unloading the boat is kept level fore and aft. Sometimes loading is slowed while ballast water is pumped out. The crew can actually load freight faster than they can pump water out!

… In the Detroit River, the mail boat came out to meet them. Called by the sailors, “mail in a pail”, a pail is let down and mail and other items are transported to or from the freighter in a closed bucket. Also, another sailor came aboard at this time, leaving the smaller boat and climbing up a ladder on the side of the big boat. Since the Herbert C Jackson was so heavily loaded and low in the water, the new man coming aboard did not have far to climb. Again, all this happened while the two boats were underway and, again, is “routine”.

Lots more to read of Tom’s 8 days on the Herbert C Jackson at The Beacon >>

By PATRICIA ECKER | Source: The Morning Sun

The Tribal Council of the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe made it clear, by resolution, that they are opposed to and deeply concerned about the impact the eight proposed coal fired plants will have on Michigan.

On Wednesday, the Tribe will host a conference to provide information to the community on climate change, energy and the potential impact of the proposed coal plants on the community.

… The conference will take place at the Soaring Eagle Casino & Resort beginning at 5:30 p.m. in the Black River Room.

… The resolution, dated Aug. 6, outlines the “grave concerns” about health risks caused by emissions of carbon dioxide, contamination of the lakes, streams, and ground water from mercury, and the environmental impact on the Great Lakes ecosystem.

… Sowmick said the Tribe is not against development, but they would urge Governor Jennifer Granholm and her administration rescind or deny air and water permits for all coal fired power plants.

“In the short term, there is job creation, but in the long term there will be harm to aquifers and wild life,” Joe Sowmick spokesperson for the Tribe said.

More about the tribe’s previous efforts, current concerns at The Morning Sun >>

Jordana Huber | Source: Windsor Star

According to a report released in August by the U.S. Coast Guard and Environmental Protection Agency, more than 500 tonnes of iron ore pellets, coal, limestone, cement, salt and grain are washed into the Great Lakes each year by U.S. and Canadian bulk carriers.

“Some say it is like a highway in Lake Ontario where the ships go because it is so littered with rock and limestone and coal that it has coated the bottom like a road,” said Mark Mattson, president of Lake Ontario Waterkeeper. “I have pictures of slicks from the water when they dump the coal and you can see it from the air and you can see them floating from the ships.”

… The results of the U.S. Coast Guard’s environmental analysis further confirms Canada’s regulations are appropriate, he said.

“Environmental impact studies suggest the impact is negligible for the cargos that are allowed to be discharged under the Canada Shipping Act,” said Riverin.

Michigan, Minnesota and Pennsylvania have all opposed cargo sweeping, along with 56 mayors of the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative, who warn toxic metals seeping out of waste can harm wildlife and people who eat fish contaminated by the metals.

… A 1999 study by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration concluded that residues of cement, grain, coarse limestone and wood pulp are not likely to cause serious environmental damage or produce negative impacts on plants and animals in the Great Lakes.

The Coast Guard report said tests conducted in vessel track lines found larger particle deposits but chemical concentrations found in cargo at the bottom of the lakes were well below levels known to be harmful to organisms.

… According to the Coast Guard report, the amount of residual cargo swept overboard is equal to .0006 per cent of the 165 million tonnes annually transported across the Great Lakes.

“Of course there is damage but whether anyone can pin it on cargo sweeping as the problem — that is difficult,” Mattson said. “Everybody knows you shouldn’t throw garbage in the lake and the only people who don’t know it are the shipping industry, who say we can’t prove it is a problem.”

Fascinating story, much more detail & quotes at the Windsor Star >>

by Bob VandeVusse | Source: Holland Sentinel

We had a surprise visitor this week when the Manitowoc arrived late Wednesday morning to deliver stone at the Verplank dock. They managed to squeeze the load on the west half of the dock, as a new dock face of steel sheet piling is being installed on the east end of the facility.

We heard through one of the Manitowoc’s crew members that they woud be returning to Holland with a load for Brewer’s, but they had not arrived by midday. They may be in today.

In the middle of the week, we expect to see the Maumee bring another load of coal to the James DeYoung power plant. The vessel is expected to load in Chicago early Wednesday morning. If that schedule holds, it should be here late Wednesday evening or early Thursday morning. Then over the long Labor Day holiday weekend, we should see another coal delivery on the Manistee.

Bob has more news on Great Lakes shipping at the Holland Sentinel >>

John Myers | Source: Duluth News Tribune

Minnesota officials call it a dirty practice that’s fouling Lake Superior, but ships carrying coal and taconite likely will continue “sweeping’’ their waste cargo into the Great Lakes.

The U.S. Coast Guard is about to approve a new regulation giving Great Lakes freighters a permanent pass on dumping some 2 million pounds of bulk cargo residue overboard each year.

U.S. laws and an international treaty prohibit ships from dumping waste into the Great Lakes or within 12 miles of shore in the ocean. But Congress in 1993 approved a temporary exemption continuing the practice of sweeping excess taconite pellets, coal and limestone into the Great Lakes.

In 2004, after a series of temporary exemptions, Congress extended the sweepings exemption through Sept. 30, 2008, and ordered the Coast Guard to study the issue and come up with a permanent plan.

The agency is scrambling to get a regulation in place by that deadline. If a permanent rule isn’t in place by Sept. 30, the Coast Guard technically would be required to fine Great Lakes ships for dumping any material into the lake.

… Great Lakes ship crews for at least 70 years have been “sweeping’’ or washing leftover bulk material overboard to keep from contaminating future loads of other materials and to keep their decks and equipment clean.

Shipping companies say they can’t operate without sweeping their ships and that regulations to dispose of the materials on land would be too costly.

… Ship owners claim the amount of cargo washed overboard is harmless and just a small fraction of the 165 million tons of cargo shipped on the lakes each year.

“The amount of dry cargo residue being washed down is truly minute,’’ said James H.I. Weakley, president of the Cleveland-based Lake Carriers Association, in comments to the Coast Guard. The group represents 63 U.S. freighters.

Much more to this story on both sides, quotes and specifics at the Duluth News Tribune >>

Related: Severstal Sees Big Bucks In U.S. Coal - Forbes

By Dale Crofts and Maria Kolesnikova | Source: Bloomberg Canada

OAO Severstal, Russia’s biggest steelmaker, agreed to buy PBS Coals for $1.3 billion to supply it U.S. operations with coking coal.

Cherepovets, Russia-based Severstal said it will buy a combination of PBS and Penfold Capital Acquisition Corp. for C$8.30 ($7.93) a share, Severstal said today in a statement.

Severstal, led by billionaire Alexei Mordashov, follows steelmakers including ArcelorMittal and Posco in acquiring coal mines after a year in which steel and coal have doubled to record[ prices]. Demand for raw materials is surging as steelmakers boost production to satisfy greater usage in China and India.

… A steel shortage in the U.S. pushed prices to a record $1,052 a ton in June. Severstal spent $950 million this year on an ArcelorMittal plant near Baltimore and WCI Steel Inc., based in Ohio. The company also acquired steelmaker Esmark Inc. for about $672 million to sell a wider range of products.

The Russian steelmaker runs a mill in Dearborn, Michigan, that supplies Ford Motor Co., and the SeverCorr factory in Columbus, Mississippi.

More about OAO Severstal’s investments, positioning and industry notes at Bloomberg Canada >>

Elisabeth Johns | Source: Hamilton Spectator

Last week, a crowd at Ivor Wynne Stadium watched as a U.S. Steel Canada blast furnace belched out a black cloud.

On Wednesday, another black cloud containing coal and iron ore emissions floated over the city’s north end, one more product of a pressure release from an ArcelorMittal Dofasco blast furnace.

And Thursday afternoon, two thick red clouds filled with iron oxide spewed in nearly as many hours in another release from ArcelorMittal Dofasco’s blast furnace.

… On Aug. 6, in an unprecedented move, the company shut down a blast furnace because of the impact the wet weather is having on operations.

“Moisture poses a serious risk factor that we guard against every day as the reactions can be fast and sometimes violent, and can impact equipment, health and safety and, of course, environment,” said Andrew Sloan, company spokesperson.

The raw materials sitting in piles outside the plants — mostly coal and iron ore — soak up rainwater.

This excess moisture is causing more volatile reactions when these materials are heated in the blast furnace to make iron, the principal component of steel.

ArcelorMittal Dofasco shut down the blast furnace in a move that hasn’t been made in the past quarter-century, Sloan said.

Full story, picture of emissions cloud at the Hamilton Spectator >>

Source: Duluth Seaway Port Authority

Higher Great Lakes water levels, continued strong coal shipments and a windfall of wind turbine traffic all contributed to strong tonnage totals through July, yet Duluth-Superior’s maritime commerce is lagging slightly behind last year’s record-setting pace, the Duluth Seaway Port Authority reported today.

All cargo through July totaled 21 million short tons, 6.5 percent behind 2007, which is remarkable considering grain shipments were down 62 percent compared to this timeframe last year.

Lake Levels Up.

Above average spring rainfall in all of the Great Lakes basins raised lake levels well above their levels of a year ago. Lake Superior is 16 inches above last year’s level, and forecasted to rise an additional inch over the next 30 days, enough to allow vessels to depart Duluth-Superior with as much as 14 additional inches of draft compared to the end of last year’s shipping season.

Each inch of draft means about 270 tons of cargo for the largest domestic lakers and about 100 tons for typical Seaway vessels. The remaining Great Lakes range from 6 to 13 inches above their levels of a year ago, and despite some seasonal declines forecasted for Lakes Erie, Michigan-Huron and Ontario, all (with the exception of Erie) are expected to remain above 2007 water levels over the next few months.

Coal Leads Commerce.

Historically the Port’s No. 2 cargo, coal shipments eclipsed iron ore during the early months of the 2008 shipping season and continue as the Port’s maritime commerce leader to date. The clean-burning, low-sulfur coal shipped via the port’s Midwest Energy Resources Company terminal reached 9.9 million tons through July (three percent above last year’s level). Total iron ore shipments through July of 8.9 million tons were running 12.4 percent behind 2007 tonnage totals to date. Iron ore shipments are expected to increase in the second half of the shipping season.

Project Cargo on Track.

Project cargo shipments at the Clure Public Marine Terminal continue to be strong. Wind turbine component cargo handled by Lake Superior Warehousing Co. is Read the rest of this entry »

Source: Lake Carriers Association

The U.S.-Flag Great Lakes fleet moved 12 million net tons of cargo on the Great Lakes in July, a virtual tie with a year ago. The July float also was roughly 170,000 tons above the month’s 5-year average.

Rising water levels again boosted vessels’ payloads, but nothing can restore the tonnage that has been lost to the dredging crisis this year.

For example, a 1,000-foot-long U.S.-Flag Laker saw its top cargo climb to 67,474 tons of iron ore in July. However, had the vessel been able to carry this much cargo on each trip this year, its year-to-date total would be 1,416,000 tons instead of 1,331,000 tons. The dredging crisis has cost just this one vessel 85,000 tons of iron ore.

Furthermore, that 67,474-ton cargo still does not represent the vessel’s maximum carrying capacity. The vessel is designed to carry more than 71,000 tons per trip. An adequately dredged navigation system would have allowed the vessel to deliver nearly 1.5 million tons through July.

The same is true in the coal trade. Another 1,000-foot-long vessel was able to carry 65,443 tons in a single trip at month’s end. If that was how much the ship had loaded on each of its 26 trips this year, it would have delivered 1.7 million tons of low-sulfur coal to utilities in the U.S. and Canada. Instead, the vessel has moved 1,625,000 tons through July. And again, even that 65,443-ton cargo is roughly 4,000 tons below the vessel’s rated capacity.

For the year, U.S.-Flag carriage stands at 51.1 million tons, a slight decrease from both a year ago and the 5-year average for the January-July timeframe.