Great Lakes shipping: "A tough year altogether"

Great Lakes shipping is winding down a turbulent season that saw freighters making fewer trips to transport fewer commodities.

Dan Gallagher, president of the Port Huron-based Lakes Pilots Association, estimated its 10 captains made 40 percent fewer trips this year than in 2008.

"It's been a tough year altogether," said Gallagher, whose association's members pilot foreign freighters as they travel through the lakes and toward the Atlantic Ocean. "We're hanging on."

Glen Nekvasil, vice president of the Cleveland-based Lake Carriers' Association, said shipments of core products such as iron ore, limestone, grain and coal all declined this year.

"It has been a difficult year," said Nekvasil, whose members comprise 16 companies with about 65 U.S.-flagged ships. He said about eight of those freighters didn't sail this year for lack of cargo, while others carried only a handful of shipments before they were laid up again.

Americans "haven't been buying cars, washing machines and refrigerators," Nekvasil said. "Ships meet demand for cargo. They don't generate command for cargo."

Both Gallagher and Nekvasil told the Times Herald of Port Huron there are signs shipping could rebound in 2010.

Imports and exports of goods such as grain, corn and soybeans will increase as credit becomes easier to obtain, Gallagher said.

"It is all about credit," he said. "A load of these products are millions of dollars, and everything is run by credit."

Nekvasil said that, as a representative of a trade organization, he isn't allowed to predict next summer's success. But, he said: "If the steel industry begins to rebound, that will bring some boats out. If the construction industry, if the (federal) stimulus dollars mean we are repairing highways and fixing bridges, that will increase the demand for limestone."

The St. Lawrence Seaway is scheduled to close Dec. 29 and the Soo Locks are set to close in mid-January.

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