by CanadianSailings | Mar 26, 2019 | Alex Binkley, Business and Economy, Other, St. Lawrence, Seaway and Great Lakes
By Alex Binkley
The St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation (SLSMC) and its shipper and shipping partners are looking at old and new possibilities for growing traffic. Transshipping Prairie crude oil to refineries in Quebec and Saint John as well as overseas customers, has been proposed before, and is still being looked at, says Bruce Hodgson, Director of Market Development for the Seaway Management Corp. “The dream isn’t going away.” Last fall, he told the Commons Transport Committee that shipping crude oil on the Seaway-Great Lakes is feasible. “We’ve worked very closely with the railways in developing the total supply chain.” Delivering crude in tank cars to Thunder Bay for loading on tankers means a much quicker turnaround of their cars for the railways rather than hauling the oil all the way to the St. Lawrence River. “The option we’ve been working on is Thunder Bay to Quebec City, and then transshipment into international markets,” Hodgson said. “We can be competitive.” A Seawaymax tanker can transport about 80,000 barrels of crude, which is about the equivalent of a unit train of crude. (more…)
by CanadianSailings | Mar 26, 2019 | Alex Binkley, Business and Economy, Gateways and Corridors, Other, St. Lawrence, Seaway and Great Lakes
By Alex Binkley
Keeping the Welland Canal open until mid-January would allow shipping lines to generate more business and ease highway congestion in southwestern Ontario, says Gregg Ruhl, the new President and CEO of Algoma Central. “If the Welland Canal were to remain open just a few more weeks, there would be hundreds and hundreds fewer trucks on the road,” he says. “The longer season should at least match the January 15 closing of the Soo Locks.”
Ruhl was Algoma’s COO when he proposed the longer shipping season to the Commons Transport Committee last fall as it held hearings across the country on a Canadian Transportation and Logistics Strategy. The committee released an interim report in late February that included a recommendation that Transport Canada work with The St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corp. (SLSMC) and its users “to explore ways to increase year-round use of the St. Lawrence Seaway to transport goods within central Canada.” The review “should consider such issues as icebreaking capabilities, piloting fees, handling fees at terminals and docking fees,” the MPs agreed. While the government has until mid-spring to respond to that recommendation, Bruce Hodgson, SLSMC’s Director of Marketing, said the issue is being discussed with domestic and international ship operators and shippers. “We’ve looked at the market and the indications are that a longer Welland season would generate additional business. We’ll work through the process of fully considering the idea.” One possibility would be keeping it open for a few more days in late December to see what happens, he said. (more…)
by CanadianSailings | Mar 25, 2019 | Alex Binkley, Gateways and Corridors, Other, St. Lawrence, Seaway and Great Lakes
By Alex Binkley
It doesn’t take long for an interview about shipping on the Great Lakes Seaway system to turn to the cost of marine pilotage. Few address the topic as bluntly as Bart Peters of Amsterdam-based Spliethoff Group. “Pilots in the U.S. basically have the freedom to make decisions about their own salary. They are running a government-sanctioned monopoly, there is no restriction on continuously increasing their costs, so there is no incentive whatsoever to ever bring costs down. Also, no one is ever responsible if things go wrong.” Unless the United States and Canada get serious about pilotage costs, “the Great Lakes trade will not develop any further,” he said. (more…)
by CanadianSailings | Mar 25, 2019 | Alex Binkley, Business and Economy, Other, St. Lawrence, Seaway and Great Lakes
By Alex Binkley
Having posted its best results in a decade last year, St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation (SLSMC) is hoping to better that performance in 2019 as its marks its 60th anniversary. The Welland Canal will open on March 22 followed by the Montreal-Lake Ontario section on March 26. The Soo Locks are scheduled to open March 25.
The 40.9 million tonnes of cargo that passed through the Seaway system in 2018 was 6.7 per cent higher than in 2017, and the best result since 2007. More than 12 million tonnes of grain passed through the waterway, the largest amount in two decades, and accounted for almost 20 per cent of the traffic. Dry bulk goods shipments came in at 10.7 million tonnes followed by iron ore at 7.3 million tonnes, trailed by liquid bulk, general cargo and coal. SLSMC has announced a toll rate increase of 1 per cent for the 2019 navigation season. (more…)
by CanadianSailings | Mar 25, 2019 | Alex Binkley, Business and Economy, Gateways and Corridors, Other, St. Lawrence, Seaway and Great Lakes
By Alex Binkley
While the Seaway marks its 60th anniversary this year, the idea for a deep draft waterway between the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence River has deep historical roots. The Seaway was officially opened on June 26, 1959, by Queen Elizabeth, Prime Minister John Diefenbaker and President Dwight Eisenhower.
The vision of a seaway can be traced back to 1895 when the joint U.S.-Canadian Deep Waterways Commission was formed to study the feasibility of building such a waterway. Historical accounts say that was followed by an International Joint Commission study in 1909, but no action was taken. By 1900, a complete network of shallow draft canals allowed uninterrupted navigation from Lake Superior to Montreal. The first real step in creating the modern Seaway came in 1932 with the completion of the fourth Welland Canal. (more…)
by Canadian Sailings | Mar 5, 2019 | Alex Binkley, Other, Ports and Terminals
By Alex Binkley
Grain shipments have long been the staple business of the port of Thunder Bay, and the port of Hamilton is well known for its connection with the city’s steel industry. While those commodities will remain important to their financial health in the future, the two Port Authorities have been working to diversify their customer bases and in recent months have landed federal support for expansion projects.
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