Season ends with slight increase in Great Lakes cargo

• Saginaw

Within minutes of the midnight Wednesday closure of the Poe Lock in Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., the lower gates opened for the last vessel of the 2011 season, the Saginaw, to make its way into the lower river. (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers photo by Michelle Hill)

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• International shipping through seaway up in 2011

The Saginaw, a 639-foot self-unloading bulk carrier, cleared the Poe Lock at midnight Wednesday bringing the 2011 navigation season to an end.

The Poe stayed open three days past the traditional closing date of the navigation season at the request of the shipping industry, allowing the

movement of more than 400,000 tons of additional cargo. The locks are scheduled to re-open March 25.

During the 2011 navigation season, 4,040 cargo vessels passed through the Soo Locks carrying almost 75 million tons of iron ore, coal, grain and other commodities, according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Throughout the Great Lakes, U.S.-flag lakers carried 93.8 million tons of dry-bulk cargo in 2011, an increase of 5.75 percent compared to 2010. The 2011 tonnage was slightly below the fleet’s five-year average, according to data from the Lake Carriers’ Association. Iron ore outperformed the five-year average by 12.7 percent, but coal tonnages were off 14 percent from the five-year average.

Tags: lake superior, business, shipping