Port Huron Times Herald:
http://www.thetimesherald.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070322/NEWS01/703220302/1002
First ships of spring set sail
Ceremony to bless the fleet will be Saturday
By NICOLE GERRING Times Herald
Closed since mid-January for winter maintenance, three major ship-canal locks are opening this week.
The Welland Canal opened Tuesday, the Montreal/Lake Ontario portion of the St. Lawrence Seaway opened Wednesday and the Soo Locks in Sault Ste. Marie will open Sunday.
Freighter crews are gearing up for the shipping season after taking a winter break during the lock closures. The season is expected to bring a mix of high demand and low Great Lakes water levels, which could cut profits.
Although some freighters continued to traverse the St. Clair River this winter carrying heating oil from Nanticoke, Ontario, and salt from Goderich, Ontario, many stop shipping in winter because of restricted access to ports.
Crews work hard from March to January on the freighters, which carry cargo such as iron ore, limestone and steel throughout the Great Lakes region and around the world.
"It's tough work," said Frank Frisk, a retired cook-porter with the Interlakes Steamship Co. who now works at BoatNerd.com in Port Huron.
But journeying through the locks is exhilarating.
"When you're standing out there on deck or the pilot house and the boat moves that 30 feet, it's really wild," he said.
Mark Gill, supervisor of the vessel traffic service for St. Marys River near the Soo Locks, said crews will be working hard until Sunday breaking up ice to allow ship passage. There has been more ice this year than last year, he said.
"It's been a tough year on the breakers themselves. We're certainly going to have an uphill battle looking toward Sunday," he said.
Big business
The demand for coal, limestone and iron ore will be up this year as overseas demand for steel increases, experts said.
Ingredients such as limestone are required to melt the iron ore to make steel. But freighter companies likely will lose money because of low water levels this season. Low water levels require ships to take on less-than-full loads in order to clear the shipping channel bottom.
While Monday's recorded water level for the Lake Michigan-Huron system was 577.2 feet above sea level, close to the average reading for March 2006, the water level on Lake Superior could play the biggest role in shipping this year, according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Detroit.
The water level in Lake Superior, which last week measured 14 inches below the March 2006 average, could fall within 3 or 4 inches of the record low by summer's end.
The Corps of Engineers is forecasting a water level similar to last summer for the Lake Michigan-Huron system. But even a variation of a few inches can reduce the profit for shipping companies. A typical freighter has the ability to carry 270 tons of cargo per inch of water, which means several hundred thousands of dollars can be lost if the water level is down several inches.
"You'll end up seeing low freighter passages, because they won't be able to carry their maximum load to their destinations," Gill said.
Frisk said the water levels are cyclical and that long periods of low water may be caused by global warming.
Despite seasonal struggles, local economies benefit from the shipping season, Frisk said, as ship watchers travel throughout the region watching freighters.
He said freighter traffic, a major tourist draw to the Port Huron area, remains popular.
"It's magnetic. Its like NASCAR on the water," Frisk said.
Ballast law
Another concern for the shipping industry this year is the Michigan water-ballast law.
The law, which went into effect in January, requires all ships stopping at state ports to have a water-ballast permit. It costs $75 to apply for the permit and $150 to renew it each year.
By getting a permit, the shipping company agrees it will not discharge its ballast in Michigan waterways or that it will use a state-approved method to clean the ballast water.
The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality will not allow ships to stop in Michigan ports if they do not have the permit, said spokesman Bob McCann.
Ballast is water, mixed with sediment and seaweed, the weight of which keeps ships stable during voyages. It's been identified as the medium that's carried invasive species, such as zebra mussels, ruffe fish and viral hemorrhagic septicemia - a quick-spreading virus from Europe that's deadly to fish.
There are 182 invasive species plaguing the Great Lakes, spurring the conservation group Great Lakes United to propose a ban on overseas ships in the Great Lakes until they learn how to stop discharging contaminated ballast water.
The shipping industry is concerned about the Michigan law's effect on business, said Bob Dorn, senior vice president of the Interlakes Steamship Co. in Cleveland.
"We're working with (the Lake Carriers Association) and the appropriate people in Lansing to understand what the issue is all about and get a little more clarification," Dorn said. "Clearly it's an issue that must be addressed without stopping commerce."
Contact Nicole Gerring at (810) 989-6270 or ngerring@ gannett.com
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