News

DULUTH, Minn. — The University of Minnesota’s Center for Transportation Studies presented Duluth Seaway Port Authority Executive Director Deb DeLuca with its 2021 Distinguished Service Award today at a virtual ceremony led by CTS Interim Director Dawn Hood. The William K. Smith Distinguished Service Award is presented annually to a private sector professional in the… Read more »

DULUTH, Minn. — The first oceangoing vessel of the 2021 maritime shipping season is scheduled to arrive Sunday afternoon in the Port of Duluth-Superior, likely by 3 p.m. Federal Biscay, a 656-foot 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… Read more »

DULUTH, Minn. — During its annual meeting held March 31, the Duluth Seaway Port Authority Board of Commissioners elected officers for the fiscal year beginning April 1, 2021. The board elected Tony Sertich to serve as president, succeeding Rick Revoir, who remains a board member along with Ray Klosowski. Other officer appointments included Yvonne Prettner… Read more »

DULUTH, Minn. — Minnesota Governor Tim Walz this week reappointed Yvonne Prettner Solon to a third term on the Duluth Seaway Port Authority Board of Commissioners. Prettner Solon served previously on the board as a Duluth City Council appointee from 1990-1994, including a term as board president in 1993. She later became Minnesota’s 47th lieutenant… Read more »

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 »

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, 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, 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 »

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 »

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 »