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The last cargo vessel of the 2014 shipping season arrived in the Duluth harbor Tuesday morning. 

The John G. Munson is one of five ships that will lay up in the Duluth-Superior harbor this winter for maintenance and repair.

Mild winter weather so far has allowed ships to catch up on cargo deliveries after record ice cover drastically slowed shipping last winter. 

December shipments on the Great Lakes increased nearly 35 percent compared to a year ago.

"It's a bittersweet moment, I think, for all the folks who tried so hard to catch up with the very rough ice conditions at the start of the season," said Adele Yorde, spokeswoman for the Duluth Seaway Port Authority. "We were able to see a nice cargo surge in December and January this time around."

The next shipping season on Lake Superior will begin in late March, when crews return to prepare for the reopening of the Soo Locks between Lake Superior and Lakes Michigan and Huron.  
 
"It's called fit-out," Yorde said. "They get everything started up again, fire up the engines, get everything working, because they'll want to get in a queue to be downbound and ready for the locks to open on March 25."

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Dan Kraker

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The John G. Munson is one of five ships that will lay up in the Duluth-Superior harbor this winter for maintenance and repair.


The John G. Munson closes the 2014 season

Winter is here: Last vessel of 2014 shipping season enters Duluth-Superior harbor

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