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News From 91.3 KUWS
Shipping season to get early start, ice breaking begins
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Story posted Tuesday at 11:44 a.m. 3/8/2010 |
An encouraging sign of a rebounding economy: The Soo Locks will open four days earlier this year for shipping traffic, to meet pent-up demand by steelmakers. Mike Simonson reports from Superior.
The earlier opening date got the Coast Guard Cutter Alder out of its winter berth in Duluth, breaking ice this week in the Twin Ports. Lieutenant Commander Mary Ellen Durley says it's a bumpy ride to break the one to two foot thick ice.
"Absolutely. It's a very bumpy ride everything on the ship vibrates, shakes. You can feel it from the bottoms of the deck all the way up to the bridge."
It's rare that the Soo Locks connecting Lake Superior with the lower Great Lakes opens earlier than March 25. This year they'll open on March 21. U.S. Army Corp of Engineers Operations Chief Wayne Sloop says it's to meet the needs of low steel and coal stockpiles.
"We received several requests, I think it was seven from industry. There's been an uptick fortunately in demand. There are several businesses that are in extremely low supply and they didn't think they could make it through the winter if we didn't open slightly early."
Gearing up early after a terrible 2009 shipping season when cargo numbers were the lowest since the Great Depression...cheers port officials. Duluth Port Facilities Manager Jim Sharrow says this will help steel mills ramp up.
"This is great news because there's a lack of inventory at the lower lakes docks especially for the iron ore industry. They got kind of short for this winter so they've been crying for ore."
Sharrow expects this shipping season will be much better than last year but believes they'll still only carry about 75% of cargo they handled before the economic downturn.
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