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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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Business and Economic News

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


Great Lakes shipping: "A tough year altogether"

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