Great Lakes shipping season starts up again in Duluth port
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Spring is in the air in the Duluth-Superior harbor. The snow is melting, the birds are chirping and the giant ships that ply Lake Superior’s waters have awoken from their winter slumber, signaling the start of another Great Lakes shipping season.
The season begins when the Soo Locks, which connect Lake Superior with the lower Great Lakes, open for ship traffic just after midnight on Wednesday.
But vessels begin to stir several days before the locks open. The U.S. Coast Guard cutter Spar, which is docked in Duluth, left the port on March 9 as part of Operation Taconite, the Coast Guard’s largest domestic icebreaking operation, which covers the northern Great Lakes.
The Spar spent several days clearing the Duluth-Superior harbor. Then it cut a track through thick ice to Thunder Bay, Ontario.
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“It’s going to be a challenging spring. It’s more challenging than in recent history,” said Brian Smicklas, who oversees the Coast Guard’s Great Lakes icebreaking operations.
"We saw a significant spike in ice growth in the early part of the winter. It’s tapered off some, but not dramatically. And, frankly, this is the most dangerous time, when we start seeing ice that is not connected to shore drifting around. So right now is a max effort to make things safe,” Smicklas said.
The giant ships that carry bulk cargoes such as iron ore, grain and limestone — along with the colorful ocean-going vessels known as “salties” that travel all the way to Duluth through the St. Lawrence Seaway — are a major draw for tourists in Duluth, who line the shipping canal as the boats traverse under the Aerial Lift Bridge.
The 806-foot James L. Oberstar was the first ship to leave the Duluth port, sailing under the Lift Bridge on Monday afternoon, bound for Marquette, Mich., to pick up a load of iron ore pellets.
The Mesabi Miner followed that evening, bound for Cleveland loaded with a cargo of taconite pellets. Ships often leave before the locks open, giving themselves time to traverse Lake Superior to line up outside Sault Ste. Marie, Mich.
The Paul R. Tregurtha is the first ship scheduled to arrive in Duluth on Thursday morning.
The Great Lakes shipping season pauses for about ten weeks every winter. The Soo Locks closed after the last vessel passed through on Jan. 15.
“Our winter closure period is essential for conducting critical inspections, repairs and maintenance on our aging infrastructure,” said Soo Locks Operations Manager LeighAnn Ryckeghem said.
Last year was a tough year for the port of Duluth-Superior. Iron ore shipments, which make up more than half of the cargo shipped out of the port, were down about 16 percent following the closing of one taconite mine on the Iron Range and the partial idling of another.
A major grain terminal on the port also closed. And the port’s sole coal loading terminal is slated to close this summer. One bright spot was the shipping of large goods that can’t fit into shipping containers, known as break bulk cargo.
