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News

Opening dates set for 2021 navigation season

February 17, 2021

St. Lawrence Seaway officials issued Seaway Notice No. 1 earlier this week, establishing opening dates for the upcoming Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Seaway System navigation season. The Welland Canal, which connects Lake Ontario and Lake Erie, is scheduled to open March 19 at 8 a.m. Eastern Time, followed by the Montreal-Lake Ontario Section, which is scheduled… Read more »

2020 Season Summary: Coronavirus pandemic stifles tonnage

January 26, 2021

DULUTH, Minn. — The 2020 maritime shipping season will be remembered for early promise crushed by the coronavirus pandemic, as total tonnage through the Port of Duluth-Superior dropped to 25.8 million short tons, the port’s lowest single-season total since 1938. Each of the port’s major cargo categories experienced season-over-season tonnage declines, most notably iron ore… Read more »

Duluth Seaway Port Authority acquires Duluth Lake Port dock

December 11, 2020

DULUTH, Minn. — The Duluth Seaway Port Authority last week finalized acquisition of the Duluth Lake Port dock on Rice’s Point. Located immediately northwest of the Port Authority’s First Clure Terminal Expansion, but separated from it by the Azcon Metals recycling property, the 7.5-acre Duluth Lake Port dock and 3.5-acre slip date back to the… Read more »

Duluth hoists record-setting wind energy cargo total

December 2, 2020

DULUTH, Minn. – The final inbound wind energy cargo vessel of 2020, the BBC Swift, discharged wind turbine blades at Duluth’s Clure Public Marine Terminal last week, capping a record-setting season at North America’s furthest inland seaport. In total, the Port of Duluth welcomed 525,000 freight tons of wind energy cargo in 2020, a single-season record. This… Read more »

Walker appointed to Port Authority Board of Commissioners

October 20, 2020

DULUTH, Minn. — The Duluth City Council last week appointed Tyrone Walker to the Duluth Seaway Port Authority Board of Commissioners. Walker, anironworker with Lakehead Constructors and Ironworkers Local 512, succeeds Norm Voorhees, whose final term on the board concluded in early October. Raised in Chicago, Walker relocated to Duluth in 2015 after earning his welding certification.… Read more »

Midseason Tonnage Report: Lows and highs during a pandemic

September 17, 2020

DULUTH, Minn. — After an early summer surge, maritime tonnage through the Port of Duluth-Superior slowed atypically in August, amidst a tepid recovery from COVID-induced lows. Total tonnage stood 31 percent behind the 2019 pace through Aug. 31, driven primarily by declines in coal and iron ore tonnage (down 59 percent and 26 percent, respectively). The… Read more »

Jeff Stollenwerk

EPA selects Stollenwerk for federal Great Lakes advisory board

June 3, 2020

DULUTH, Minn. — The United States Environmental Protection Agency announced today its appointees to the Great Lakes Advisory Board, a federal committee established to provide ongoing recommendations regarding the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative and the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement between the U.S. and Canada. The appointees included Jeff Stollenwerk, Duluth Seaway Port Authority director of government… Read more »

Port of Duluth-Superior gains second consecutive Pacesetter Award

May 6, 2020

DULUTH, Minn. — The Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation announced today the recipients of its Pacesetter Award for international cargo tonnage increases during the 2019 shipping season. That pentad included the Port of Duluth-Superior, which earned Pacesetter honors for the second consecutive year. Four of Duluth-Superior’s six cargo categories posted season-over-season tonnage increases in 2019.… Read more »

Season’s first saltie scheduled to arrive in Duluth tonight

April 8, 2020

DULUTH, Minn. – The first oceangoing vessel of 2020 is scheduled to arrive in the Port of Duluth-Superior tonight at approximately 8 p.m. Federal Churchill, a 656-foot ice-class bulk carrier owned by Montréal-based Fednav, will earn the First Ship distinction, completing the season’s first full transit of the St. Lawrence Seaway en route to the Great… Read more »