FMT | News clippings and press releases

PORTAGE – ICARUS, the world’s largest liquid argon particle hunter, arrived at the Port of Indiana-Burns Harbor on the ocean vessel M/V Frieda earlier this week, successfully completing the maritime portion of its trip from Europe. The instrument, the size of two semi-trucks, used by particle physicists to study neutrinos, among the smallest building blocks in nature and by far the most abundant particles in the universe, will be used for some of the most advanced science experiments in the world. ICARUS’ final destination is the U.S. Dept. of Energy’s Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab) in Batavia, Ill.

“The Port of Indiana-Burns Harbor is a major hub for large-dimensional and mega project cargo shipments,” said Port Director Ian Hirt. “The port’s facilities and location allow companies to ship cargoes by water directly into the Midwest, which can significantly reduce the transportation costs and permitting requirements for moving large loads over the highway. Because of the experience of Federal Marine Terminals, our general cargo terminal operator, this port has developed an enviable track record for handling large cargoes and established a world-wide reputation as a port-of-choice for specialty shipments.”

ICARUS was separated into two identical pieces before being loaded onto the Frieda in Antwerp, Belgium. When the two containers, each 66-ft. long and weighing 63 tons, arrived at Burns Harbor, they were transloaded by the ship’s cranes directly onto waiting over-sized truck trailers. A neutrino detector, ICARUS’ job is to observe and record the results of neutrino collisions with particles of matter set in motion by another scientific instrument, an accelerator. By studying how neutrinos interact, scientists hope to understand more about the universe at the smallest scales. When reassembled at Fermilab and filled with 760 tons of liquid argon, ICARUS will be the world’s largest particle hunter of its kind and will also be the biggest of three neutrino detectors at the facility.

Members of the International Longshoremen’s Association unloaded the ICARUS and have been especially busy this shipping season handling over-sized cargoes. From January through May, project cargoes at the port are up more than 225 percent over the same period last year. Most of the large dimensional shipments this season have been wind tower sections, blades and other wind energy-related components from Spain and Brazil.

Since leaving Geneva, Switzerland on June 10, ICARUS’ journey has been tracked via an interactive map on Fermilab’s website, icarustrip.fnal.gov, as well as on Twitter, hashtag #IcarusTrip. The detector will depart from the port by truck and arrive at Fermilab on July 26.

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Long Beach, California-based Metro Ports is setting up shop as the new bulk terminal operator at the Port of Indiana-Burns Harbor, and the company hopes to double cargo volumes there in the next two years.

Ports of Indiana Chief Executive Officer Rich Cooper said the presence of Metro Ports, the country’s oldest stevedoring company, could be a "game-changer" that will make the already bustling port even busier.

"We now have a world-class stevedore at the port with such a national presence — they operate on the West Coast, the East Coast and the Gulf Coast," Cooper said. "They see the same tremendous opportunity we do up here in Northwest Indiana. I think we were very successful in selecting a business partner who has a common interest with us in growing this business."

Metro Ports President Michael Ferguson said the 165-year-old company saw the Great Lakes as a potential growth market 18 months ago, and ended up choosing the Port of Indiana-Burns Harbor. "We've got 27 operations around the United States, but nothing on the Great Lakes," he said. "We've got some pretty strong growth plans."

He said Metro Ports could double cargoes by increasing volumes, finding opportunities with its current client list, and bringing back shipments that once arrived at the deepwater Lake Michigan port but no longer do. The company will load and unload bulk cargoes such as steelmaking, agricultural, manufacturing, energy and construction products on the port's East Harbor.

Federal Marine Terminals serves as the stevedore on the port's West Harbor, where dock workers largely handle steel imports for the cluster of steel-processing plants based at the port that's in both Portage and Burns Harbor.

Last year, the port handled nearly 2.6 million tons of cargo, capping the highest three-year total in its 52-year history.

Metro Ports is well-positioned to bring even more cargo in because it's got a lengthy list of clients who are interested in getting products from the manufacturer to the consumer as quickly and efficiently as possible, Ferguson said. The company handles a slew of different cargoes across the country, including aggregates, potash, coke, coal, cement, fertilizer, borax, bauxite, vehicles, machinery, military hardware, steel products, wind turbine blades, yachts and project cargo.

"This is a great opportunity to add a great company that will bring greater capacity to the market," Northwest Indiana Forum President and Chief Executive Officer Heather Ennis said. "That means being able to attract more businesses, and an exciting future for the community."

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Icarus famously flew too close to the sun, but ICARUS, the world's largest liquid argon particle hunter, is safe and secure in Portage.

The ocean vessel M/V Frieda brought the massive scientific instrument, called ICARUS, from Europe to the Port of Indiana-Burns Harbor last week. It's headed for the U.S. Department of Energy's Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory in Batavia, Illinois, where particle physicists will use it to study neutrinos, elementary particles that help make up the universe.

"The Port of Indiana-Burns Harbor is a major hub for large-dimensional and mega project cargo shipments," said Ian Hirt, port director.

"The port's facilities and location allow companies to ship cargoes by water directly into the Midwest, which can significantly reduce the transportation costs and permitting requirements for moving large loads over the highway. Because of the experience of Federal Marine Terminals, our general cargo terminal operator, this port has developed an enviable track record for handling large cargoes and established a worldwide reputation as a port-of-choice for specialty shipments."

Fermilab, the nation's premier national laboratory for particle physics and accelerator research, will use the liquid argon particle-hunter in some of the world's most advanced scientific experiments as it tries "to solve the mysteries of matter, energy, space and time for the benefit of all."

The national laboratory said on its website researchers will use the ICARUS, or Imaging Cosmic and Rare Underground Signals, detector to seek evidence of a fourth type of neutrino that scientists previously have not been able to detect.

"As neutrino detector, ICARUS' job is to observe and record the results of neutrino collisions with particles of matter set in motion by another scientific instrument, an accelerator," the Ports of Indiana said in a press release.

"By studying how neutrinos interact, scientists hope to understand more about the universe at the smallest scales. When reassembled at Fermilab and filled with 760 tons of liquid argon, ICARUS will be the world's largest particle-hunter of its kind and will also be the biggest of three neutrino detectors at the facility."

ICARUS, which is the size of two semi-trucks, had to be divided into two containers, each 66-feet long and 63 tons, as it began its journey in Geneva, Switzerland last month. It was trucked to a port at Antwerp, Belgium, where it sailed across the Atlantic Ocean, through the St. Lawrence Seaway, into Lake Michigan and onto Northwest Indiana.

The particle-hunter, which records collisions on neutrinos, will soon be loaded onto semi-trucks and is slated to arrive at Fermilab on July 26.

Its trip has been tracked at icarustrip.fnal.gov and on Twitter with the hashtag #IcarusTrip.

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Signet Maritime Corporation is currently wrapping up an important phase of a major project at the Federal Marine Terminal in Port Manatee, Florida. FMT’s attention to detail, its cargo handling experience, and the company’s safe work practices played a substantial role in the project’s success. Several thousand work hours were accumulated during the mat transport phase of the operation without incident or injury. The Assistant Manager, Subsea Business Development, Operations & Logistics, Marine • LNG • Shipbuilding & Repair sector of Signet Maritime, Captain Alexander L. Babbin, had this to say: “I would like to express our sincere gratitude to everyone at Federal Marine Terminals, who we look forward to working with in the near future.”

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Long Beach, California-based Metro Ports was hired as the new bulk terminal operator at the deepwater port on Lake Michigan, replacing Lakes and River Transfer after its contract expires at the end of June. Metro Ports will load and unload bulk cargoes, including shipments of steelmaking, agricultural, manufacturing, energy and construction products.

Montreal-based Federal Marine Terminals, which has invested millions of dollars in the port over the years, will remain on as the port’s general cargo stevedore for freight such as steel and heavy equipment. Metro Ports is the country’s oldest stevedoring company, and it has a long established presence on the west, east and gulf coasts.

“We’re honored to be selected as the bulk terminal operator at the Port of Indiana,” Metro Ports President Michael Ferguson said. “We see tremendous potential here to leverage the port’s connections to ocean ships, Great Lakes vessels, river barges and multiple rail carriers, as well as the region’s powerful industrial base located within sight of downtown Chicago. Indiana was the obvious choice for us to expand our business into the Midwest and establish a Great Lakes presence. We could not have asked for a better business partner than the Ports of Indiana and are already working together with their team to develop new shipments that could significantly grow business in this region.”

Metro Ports is expected to invest in bulk terminal upgrade that increase throughput capacity at the port, which handled 2.6 million tons of cargo like steel and beer tanks last year. Get breaking news sent instantly to your inbox

“Having a 165-year-old company like Metro Ports select Indiana to launch its Great Lakes operations is a tribute to our state’s business climate and our extremely successful port system,” Ports of Indiana Chief Executive Officer Rich Cooper said. “Indiana’s robust maritime economy leverages shipping connections to domestic and international markets through the Great Lakes and the inland river systems to support 155,000 Hoosier jobs and generate $21.5 billion in annual economic activity. We’re happy to see Metro Ports recognizes tremendous economic opportunity in establishing a port terminal at the ‘Crossroads’ and ‘Cross-waterways’ of America.”

About 30 companies, like Cargill, Feralloy Processing and Carmeuse Lime & Stone, operate at the 47-year-old port in Burns Harbor and Portage. It largely receives internationally shipped industrial products like steel coil that pass through the St. Lawrence Seaway into the Great Lakes, and ships out grain to foreign markets. Source: NWI”

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Pursuing Project Cargoes

Michel Tosini, executive vice president of Federal Marine Terminals, which operates stevedoring facilities at Burns Harbor and 11 other North American ports, notes that the traditional cargo on the Great Lakes has been steel.

“For as long as the St. Lawrence Seaway has been open, steel has been the far dominant type of cargo carried. That commodity has fluctuated, especially in the last 10 or 15 years, dramatically from very high years of tonnage to very low years of tonnage. It was a conscious decision, not only from the steamship side and terminal side, to try to diversify our cargo — more so in the last 10 years. Rather than just the traditional steel cargoes, which are still there, we’ve really gone after other kinds of breakbulk and project cargoes — including a lot of wind energy components,” Tosini said.

At Burns Harbor, brewery equipment still comprises only a tiny share of general cargo — perhaps 1 percent — compared with much higher volumes of lumber and steel, grain, chemicals, fertilizers, and other major cargoes. But while brewing tanks are still a small niche at Burns Harbor, they deserve attention because of the fashionable nature of the product, and their potential for further growth.

Peacock said that craft brews seem to be “the thing,” much like wind energy equipment was a few years ago, “when so many wind farms were going up, and there weren’t enough ports to handle all the blades [and other related components]. Now, in the last two years, we’ve seen brewery” activity that mirrors that phenomenon in the world of alternative energy.

When all is said and done, the best thing about craft brews is their unique appeal as a product. “We are all beer enthusiasts,” concludes Robbins. At Triple R, “we take pride in what we do, and it is special to think that you get to help deliver a tank that brews one of your favorite styles of beer. We think of ourselves as almost an extension of the brewery, because not only do we want to deliver it; when one of their tanks is in our possession, we treat it like it’s our own.”

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Portage, IN, August 23, 2016 - Fednav Limited, the largest international bulk shipowner in Canada, today welcomes to the Port of Indiana – Burns Harbor, the Federal Caribou, one of seven new oceangoing lakers equipped with a ballast water treatment system—a first for the Great Lakes. This vessel protects the Lakes by treating its ballast water two times: by conducting an exchange in the North Atlantic, and through filtration and a chlorine disinfection treatment on the ship.

The Federal Caribou is part of a series of 16 Handysize vessels, representing an investment by Fednav of more than $400 million and designed specifically for the Great Lakes. The company is the leading international operator in the Great Lakes, has one of the most modern fleets of bulk carriers in the world, the average age being under 10 years. Of particular interest is that the Federal Caribou and its sister-ships have box-shaped holds in order to facilitate the handling of general cargo.

In April 2015, Fednav announced the signing of an agreement with JFE Engineering Corporation for the installation of ballast water treatment systems (BallastAce) on board its new ocean-going lakers. The Federal Caribou is one of those ships, and its voyage to Burns Harbor highlights the fact that Fednav is the first shipping company in the Great Lakes to treat ballast water using an onboard system. JFE is now pursuing US Coast Guard certification, with expected approval in 2017.

Other outstanding environmental characteristics of these vessels include:

• 25% fewer greenhouse gas emissions than similar vessels built less than 15 years ago
• A decrease of over 15% nitrogen oxide emissions
• A CLEAN notation from the DNV/GL classification society

At the ceremony on board the ship, Paul Pathy, President and Co-CEO of Fednav Limited and Chairman of Federal Marine Terminals noted: "This vessel confirms that the protection of the Great Lakes is a priority for Fednav and demonstrates the confidence we have in the region’s future. These ships will allow us to offer our customers in Indiana and throughout the region an unparalleled service at a higher standard.”

“We commend and congratulate Fednav for its commitment to make these long-term investments that benefit so many on the Great Lakes,” said Rich Cooper, CEO for the Ports of Indiana. “The company has always taken the Lake’s environment very seriously and being the first to outfit its newer ships with on-board ballast water treatment systems further validates just how committed it really is. We are proud to call Fednav a ‘true partner’ at our port on Lake Michigan and salute the company for their innovation and leadership in the maritime industry.”

Fednav Limited, established in 1944 is a privately owned international shipowning and operating company based in Montreal.

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The first shipment of salt at the Port of Eastport was unloaded at a much faster rate than expected, and the much anticipated inaugural use of the $10 million bulk conveyor system, after an initial glitch, went off without a hitch. "We are beyond pleased, as was the customer," says Chris Gardner, executive director of the Eastport Port Authority. "That system ran after a minor glitch for a day and a half flawlessly."

Beginning on May 31, a total of 14,452 metric tons of salt was unloaded at Eastport from the Star Zeta, which had previously unloaded about 27,000 tons in Searsport. William Massow, vice president of operations for New England Salt Company, which imported the salt from Morocco, is hoping that another shipment will be made in the fall, with perhaps 25,000 coming to Eastport and 35,000 to 40,000 tons to Searsport. The salt unloaded at Eastport was tarped and is being stored at the bulk storage pad at the port until it is sold and distributed to be used on the roads in eastern and northern Maine.

"We wanted to start with a partial vessel and see how everything works out," says Massow. "There were a few glitches, but everything since has been smooth, which is expected."

It was anticipated that the operation could take 43 hours, and it ended up being finished in 34 hours. Al Day, general manager of Federal Marine Terminals (FMT), which operates the port terminal, says it was expected that the salt would be unloaded at the rate of 300 tons an hour, and the longshoremen ended up averaging 425 tons an hour, which surprised those who were watching the operation. "I'm proud we did such a good job. Everybody put their best foot forward here," says Day of the longshoremen and FMT staff. For a product that had not been handled previously in Eastport and for the first use of the conveyor system, Day says, "They more than beat our expectations, which we find they often do for us."

Maine Department of Transportation Commissioner David Bernhardt, who watched the operation for two days, notes that the salt shipment is the first time that the conveyor system in which the state and the port authority invested has been used. The state invested $4.5 million, the federal government $2.5 million and the port authority the remainder of the funding. "It shows that the investment was the right thing to do," he says.

The commissioner says the state will continue to make investments in the port, noting the recent funding for the new port access road. Eastport is one of the three cargo ports in Maine to which the state has made a commitment. "It's important to make the investments so things like this can happen," the commissioner notes. With PotashCorp closing its Picadilly Mine near Sussex, New Brunswick, salt needs to be imported closer to where it will be used, he points out. Along with supplying salt in New Brunswick, the Picadilly Mine also provided salt for parts of eastern and northern Maine. With the closing of the mine, New England Salt has been receiving inquiries about supplying salt into New Brunswick, which could be imported through Eastport.

Bernhardt adds, "We hope to see in the near future biomass like wood chips" being exported through the port. "It will help the fiber industry in Maine, since we've lost some paper-making and biomass plants." Of the port's conveyor system, Bernhardt says, "We hope to be pushing the button more often."

Bernhardt considered the operation very successful, says Gardner. The port director notes that several days were spent fine-tuning the conveyor system beforehand and that it performed well. The belt tension on the shiploader ended up having to be adjusted, but that was fixed in 45 minutes and "the system ran flawlessly ever since."

The operation used both the conveyor system and trucks to increase the offload rate. "The faster we can do it, the better," notes Gardner. Federal Program Integrators, which is working on the new port access road, provided trucks at the beginning, and then local trucking firms were used. Gardner believes the offload rate was highly competitive and at times exceeded the rate at Searsport, which has offloaded salt from hundreds of ships, although there was an expected slowdown near the end of the Eastport operation. "We learned a lot on how we can maximize this further."

Noting that in its operations to offload salt Searsport uses trucks that have to drive a distance to the storage pile, Gardner says of Eastport's setup, "Having the bulk yard effectively right at the pier is a tremendous advantage." However, he adds, "We're not trying to take business from Searsport but to get more business for Maine. We're hoping that New England Salt can find advantages by importing it through Eastport." Gardner notes that employees at the Sprague terminal at Searsport were helpful with advice about the offloading process.

"There was a lot of angst about getting this turned on," Gardner says, referring to the conveyor system that was completed three years ago. "We thought it would be in 2015, but due to the market conditions on wood chips, it didn't happen." The salt shipment gave the port the chance to show that the system can work and is not only capable "but quite an asset to us."

Other potential customers who would use the conveyor system for exporting cargo were brought in to view the operation, and Gardner says they were pleased. "So much is to be brought out of this," he notes of salt operation. "We had a lot to prove to a lot of people. We made a lot of promises over the past two years, and we are going to make good on them."

The port director adds, "A big tip of the cap to the men and women of the longshoremen's association. At the end of the day someone has to turn it on and make it all work." While there was a steep learning curve, Gardner says, "Two or three hours into this and you would have swore we had done 100 ships. At the end of this if it wasn't for the people who work there, none of this would work."

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QUEBEC, QC--(Marketwired - May 31, 2016) - This morning Green Marine, a North American environmental certification program, unveiled its participants' environmental performance results for the year 2015 as part of the opening session of its GreenTech 2016 conference taking place at the Hilton Québec until tomorrow.

Green Marine's participants maintained an overall average of 3.2 on a 1-to-5 scale, with Level 1 indicating monitoring of regulations and Level 5 reflecting excellence and leadership. Green Marine participants are ship owners, port authorities, Seaway corporations, terminal owners and shipyard operators. To assure the program's rigour and transparency, participants must undergo an external verification every two years, and each participant's individual results are published annually. The voluntary environmental program has 12 performance indicators that address environmental issues such as air pollution emissions, greenhouse gases, aquatic invasive species, waste management and community impacts.

"Improving from an average of 2 in 2008 to 3.2 in 2015 is no small feat," says David Bolduc, Green Marine's executive director, explaining that the program has significantly augmented its criteria every year, as well as welcomed quite a number of new participants. "Ports and terminals, for instance, have a new performance indicator this year: waste management."

Performance levels are not the only thing on the rise. Green Marine's membership is also enjoying a strong upward curve! The environmental program has tripled the number of its participants since its inception in 2007. There are currently 103 participants compared to 34 when the program started nine years ago.

"This increase demonstrates that an increasing portion of the marine industry is committed to pursuing sustainable development through Green Marine," says Paul Gourdeau, who chairs Green Marine's Board of Directors and is the president of Federal Marine Terminals. Green Marine achieved a milestone in February by welcoming its 100^th participant: Port Canaveral in Florida. "This continued expansion is proof that a voluntary certification program meets a need," notes Bolduc, "and that we are making progress in the mission that we have set to advance North America's marine industry environmental excellence."

The 2015 Performance Report, containing the individual results of all of the program's participants, is available at www.green-marine.org.

Green Marine overview

Founded in 2007, Green Marine is a North American environmental certification program. The program guides a voluntary effort by the maritime industry to surpass regulatory requirements. The Green Marine program's uniqueness stems from the support it receives from environmental and governmental organizations. The more than 50 supporters contribute to shaping and revising the program.

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Montreal, Quebec, Canada, May 3, 2016 – Federal Marine Terminals (FMT) announces $3.7M in investments to ensure that its terminal cargo handling facilities meet their promise to deliver higher standards in safety and efficiency, and by doing so, remain at the forefront of the industry.

These investments include $1.7M for a new crane, $1.3M in new forklifts, and $700K in other equipment and gear for 7 of its 12 terminals.

The new crane, a Kobelco CK2750G model, to be delivered this summer to the company’s terminal in the Port of Cleveland, will significantly improve production. It will feature a Tier 4 Final engine, the newest generation of motors for this type of equipment, and is expected to achieve 90% reduction of nitrogen oxides and particulate matter emissions when compared with the Tier 3 engines.

The new forklifts acquired for FMT’s Burns Harbor, Milwaukee, Cleveland, and Hamilton operations will also feature Tier 4 Final engines as well as urea-based Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) controllers, thereby achieving near-zero emissions. In addition, they will be equipped with Hyster wireless monitoring systems to ensure increased safety and efficiency. FMT aims to install the system on all forklifts owned by FMT throughout 2017–2018.

Other equipment on order for Burns Harbor, Cleveland, Eastport, Calvert, Milwaukee, and Lake Charles to improve safety and productivity include coil trays, street sweepers, side-by-side vehicles, skid steers, and rubber spray for forks and coil rams.

These $3.7M in investments will enable FMT to make strides in production while reducing emissions, thereby living up to its promise to customers to meet its commitment to respect community and environment.

FMT is also proud to announce the release of its corporate video and invites readers to view it at www.fmtcargo.com.

-30-

Contact: 
Michel Tosini, Executive Vice-President
514.878.6415 | mtosini@fedmar.com

www.fmtcargo.com

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IBJ visited the port of Milwaukee, located on Lake Michigan, and discovered that the thriving bulk and general cargo port has a distinct logistical advantage

Port Director at the Port of Milwaukee Paul Vornholt recently told IBJ that the port had a great location advantage, "We can offer two major options for routing cargo; either through the St Lawrence/Great Lakes system or the Mississippi." Vornholt formally assumed the duties of Municipal Port Director last year. He had served as Acting Port Director for the past two-and-a-half years.

The Port of Milwaukee is located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, about 75 miles north of Chicago. The Port is 1,021 nautical miles from Montreal and serves as a regional transportation and distribution centre with a primary market including the State of Wisconsin, northern and western Illinois and eastern Minnesota. The Port is also capable of cost effectively reaching Iowa, the Dakotas, Nebraska, Missouri and Indiana; and the western Canadian Provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. Also, as Vornholt highlights, the Port of Milwaukee is capable of serving river areas as far as the US Gulf by inland river barges. Transits cross lower Lake Michigan to the Illinois River and thence to the Mississippi River at St Louis to the US Gulf. Transit times by barge to the US Gulf average about 30 days in a combined tow, or approximately 10 days with a dedicated tow.

"The port averages around 2.5m tonnes annually," said Vornholt, "and coal has taken it to over 3m tonnes. We have some big names, such as Cargill, using the port and, as well as traditional bulk cargoes, Miller-Coors and various other brewers are headquartered in Milwaukee, we handle a diverse mix of general cargoes."

The Port of Milwaukee has devoted over 50 acres to dry bulk storage and handling facilities, including four storage domes totalling 50,000 tonnes of storage. Dry bulk handling services include storage and stock piling, direct transfer truck/rail/barge, vessel loading and unloading, packaging, palletising and processing. Kinder Morgan is the Port's bulk stevedore and handles a wide variety of dry bulk materials including salt, construction aggregates, coal, and fertilisers.

"We are doing well with project cargo at Federal Marine Terminals," said Vornholt, "Which is the Port 's general cargo stevedore and the steel they handle from Europe is very high grade." Other general cargoes handled at Milwaukee include forest products, bagged materials, heavy machinery, farm and construction machinery. The Port is well known for its heavy lift capability. Its stiff leg derrick is capable of lifting a total of 440,000 pounds at a 52ft radius. The port provides over 330,000ft2 of covered warehouse space for bulk, steel and general cargoes, including 30,000ft2 of heated space. All facilities are steel frame buildings with brick/aluminium exteriors. All general cargo piers are paved with concrete and asphalt and each is rail served. Total general cargo facility exceeds 20 acres, plus additional backup storage as needed.

"The port is investing in infrastructure including a $2.4m rail project", said Vornholt. The port is served by two railroads, the Union Pacific Railroad and the Canadian Pacific Railway. Both railroads provide direct pier delivery at all Port facilities as well as necessary switching services. The port owns and maintains 13.5 miles of rail track within the port, which connects main lines at the port property edge. "

Federal Interstate Highway System 1-94/794 leads directly into the port, assuring delay-free pickup and delivery of commodities by truck. There are exit/entrance ramps direct to Port service roads. Transits to/from the Interstate to major Port terminals take less than five minutes. Highway connections to cities within a 350-mile radius are accomplished within a few hours.

Regarding liquid bulk, the port has about 300,000 barrels of storage capacity with the capability of service by vessel, pipeline, rail and truck. Products handled include clean petroleum, heavy oils and lubes, asphalt and vegetable oils. Both US Oil and South Harbor (Tanco Terminals) are port tenants.

A full roster of distributive services can be provided at Milwaukee including but not limited to warehousing, sorting, re-cooping, de-canning, palletising and container stripping and stuffing.

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PORTAGE, Ind. – The Port of Indiana-Burns Harbor opened the 2016 international shipping season today with the arrival of the M.V. Lubie, a 623-foot bulk carrier from Europe. To commemorate the first ocean vessel of the year, the captain was presented with the Port of Indiana ‘Steel Stein.

“Our port handles lakers and river barges year-round, but the first ocean vessel is always energizing for businesses and our workforce at the port,” said Port Director Rick Heimann. “The Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway provide a global connection for Indiana companies to ship goods to and from world markets. Having access to this international trade route is vitally important for the U.S. and Indiana economies as well as numerous transportation and logistics jobs.”

Owned and operated by the Polsteam Shipping Co., and built in 2011, the Bahamas-flagged Lubie picked up its steel cargo in Ijmuiden, Holland, and stopped in Cleveland before coming to the Port of Indiana. Dock workers will unload over 6,600 tons of steel at the port before Captain Jacek Kurpiel and his 21 Polish crew members continue to Milwaukee to discharge the ship’s remaining cargo. The Lubie will then go to Thunder Bay in Ontario to load grain for shipment to world markets.

Port Director Heimann presented Captain Kurpiel with the ‘Steel Stein,’ which commemorates Northwest Indiana’s identity as “The Steel capital of North America.” The Port of Indiana is recognized as one of the top steel ports in the country for inbound and outbound shipments of steel and metal-related products.

The steel was unloaded by port stevedore Federal Marine Terminals with local workers from the International Longshoremen’s Assoc. and the International Union of Operating Engineers.

“The significance of the first ship arriving at the port at the start of the new shipping season is threefold,” said Brian LaRue, general manager for Federal Marine Terminals/Burns Harbor. “It represents the positive economic impact on our community, it symbolizes the enduring role of the industry and it demonstrates the commitment and collaboration of all those involved in the shipping trade. Our staff and the local longshoremen workforce are both excited about the first ship of the season and what will hopefully be a strong 2016 shipping season.”

The St. Lawrence Seaway opened its locks to ocean vessels for the 58^th international shipping season on March 21 after closing in late December. The Seaway closes for maintenance in the winter, but the Port of Indiana is open year-round handling cargoes by river barges, lake vessels, trains and trucks. The port handled 2.8 million tons of cargo in 2015, the second highest tonnage in over two decades. Following 2014’s all-time record volume, 2015 marked only the third time the port handled 2.8 million tons or more in the port’s 45-year history.

About the Port of Indiana-Burns Harbor: The Port of Indiana-Burns Harbor opened in 1970 and is operated by Ports of Indiana, a statewide port authority managing three ports on the Ohio River and Lake Michigan. Established in 1961, the Ports of Indiana is a self-funded enterprise dedicated to growing Indiana’s economy by developing and maintaining a world-class port system. Information: portsofindiana.com.

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Excerpt from: http://www.greatlakes-seawayreview.com/digital-dateline/#201603144
Source: Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Port Authority  

. . . The board also approved renewal of Federal Marine Terminals, Inc. (FMT) as a terminal operator for the 2016 shipping season. FMT will again lease warehouses A, 24, 26 and the maintenance shed. FMT handles primarily non-containerized steel shipments and various project cargoes.

“We are pleased to renew FMT for 2016 and plan to work aggressively with them to maximize their throughput despite ongoing headwinds in the steel and commodities markets,” Friedman said.

“ …our continued partnership with FMT sets the stage for growth and sustainability as we continue connecting Cleveland, the Great Lakes and the Midwest to the world,” said Chris Ronayne, Chair of the Port of Cleveland’s board of directors.”

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Port of Milwaukee Cargo Again Tops 2-Million Tons

2015 Was a Year of Changes at the Port

The Port of Milwaukee’s cargo numbers held their own in 2015. Milwaukee’s port again topped 2-million metric tons of cargo in a year when ports across the Great Lakes and around the world saw declines in volume. Milwaukee’s tonnage in 2015 totaled nearly 2.3-million tons, down approximately 3-hundred-thousand tons from the previous year.

Grain volume grew significantly last year, and cement tonnage moving through the Milwaukee Harbor also increased. Salt remained the top commodity handled at the Port of Milwaukee. 2015 steel volumes at the Port of Milwaukee ranked as one of the highest totals in the past decade, although down from near record levels in 2014.

“Cargo at the Port of Milwaukee is affected by world markets and local demand, and we certainly saw that last year,” Milwaukee Port Director Paul Vornholt said. “2016 begins with some uncertainty, but there is reason for optimism.”

The biggest change at the Port of Milwaukee last year was the decline in coal tonnage. With WE Energies conversion of the Valley Power Plant to natural gas, coal tonnages dropped by more than 80%.

Because Milwaukee handles a variety of cargoes, a big change in one commodity’s volume is often balanced by changes in other products.

The Port of Milwaukee is an economic entity of City government governed by the seven-member Board of Harbor Commissioners, a panel appointed by Mayor Tom Barrett and confirmed by the Common Council. It administers operations on the 467 acres that make up the Port. It promotes shipping and commerce throughout the region by providing access to domestic and international ships, rail, and over-the-road transportation. ###

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Quebec and Indiana partner on Great Lakes shipping initiative

Rick Heimann, Port Director

Portside, A Ports of Indiana Publication – 2016 Issue 1

PORTAGE, Ind. - The province of Quebec and the state of Indiana recently launched a new partnership to explore the development of increased maritime trade between the districts. Quebec is a key trading partner for the Port of Indiana-Burns Harbor because the province serves as a gateway between the Great Lakes and the Atlantic Ocean.

In September, Quebec's Minister of International Affairs and Indiana's Lieutenant Governor joined officials from the Ports of Indiana and Fednav Limited at the port to announce the new initiative.

"The province of Quebec and the state of Indiana are connected by more than just water," said Indiana Lieutenant Governor Sue Ellspermann, "We share strong manufacturing sectors, robust multimodal transportation systems, and a heavy reliance on Great Lakes shipping. As two of the leading maritime economies on the Great Lakes/St. Lawrence Seaway, Quebec and Indiana represent a large part of the business activity generated by shipping in this region. We hope this maritime partnership will lead to increased opportunities for collaboration between our economies."

Since the announcement, the Port of Indiana has logged two export shipments to Quebec terminals and hosted a 20-person trade mission from Quebec which included the province’s directors of North American markets and economic affairs, and leaders from several Quebec ports and logistics companies.

This new partnership followed the recent unveiling of the Quebec Maritime Strategy, which is an ambitious plan that seeks to generate more than 30,000 jobs and $9 billion in the province's maritime industry by 2030.

"Indiana is a significant economic partner of Quebec in the Midwest, especially with respect to maritime transportation," stated Christine St-Pierre, Quebec Minister of International Relations and Francophone, during her visit to the port, "This partnership with Indiana shows that the new Quebec Maritime Strategy already has a strong, positive impact in our relations with our largest trading partner, the United States. This bodes well for the future, as Quebec's exports to the Midwest have grown by .30 percent since 2010."

The Port of Indiana-Burns Harbor also shares a strong business partnership with the Quebec-based Fednav Limited, a leading Great Lakes shipping line, Fednav provides regular ocean service to the Port of Indiana and is the parent company for the port's general cargo terminal operator, Federal Marine Terminals.

Within the new initiative, Quebec and Indiana have identified short-sea shipping as a factor of regional economic development that would benefit from greater regional collaboration. Short-sea shipping is especially important because it facilitates the delivery of supplies along trade routes that have rail and highway capacity constraints and infrastructure challenges.

In Quebec, under the leadership of the Marine Industry Forum, the Quebec Short-Sea Shipping Round Table is fully engaged in the promotion and the development of short-sea shipping, acting as a hub of short-sea related information and expertise. Short-sea shipping currently accounts for 20 percent of shipping traffic in St. Lawrence River ports and its development is one of the key priorities of the Quebec Maritime Strategy.

Indiana currently handles nearly 30 million tons of cargo per year on short-sea shipping movements across the Great Lakes, predominantly consisting of iron ore for the steel mills located in Northwest Indiana.

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International cargo continued moving at a strong pace through the Port of Milwaukee in 2015, and Wednesday will bring the last ship arriving through the St. Lawrence Seaway to Milwaukee this year. The Federal Hunter is set to unload 3,500 tons of steel products – raw material used by local manufacturers. Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett will visit the Port Wednesday morning to talk about the successful shipping season and to highlight the role the Port plays to support local manufacturing and employment.

“The Port of Milwaukee is a City transportation asset that adds efficiency and value to our local economy,” Mayor Barrett said. “When local companies operate cost-effectively, they employ more workers, and, in turn, our community is stronger.” Since 1996, Federal Marine Terminals has served as the Port of Milwaukee’s general cargo stevedore, and this year will rank as the seventh highest overseas cargo volume during that tenure.

Forty-seven international ships called on the Port of Milwaukee in 2015. The Federal Hunter is the last ocean vessel of the season to arrive here. It will depart via the St. Lawrence Seaway before that route closes for the season on December 31st. The Port remains open through the winter as ships carry cargo such as salt, limestone and cement to and from other Great Lakes ports. Milwaukee will also host several ships that will spend the winter in the Port’s well-protected Inner Harbor.

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CLEVELAND, Ohio -- With two months left in the shipping season, U.S. ports were busy moving grain and project cargo in October, according to a press release from the Great Lakes Seaway Partnership.

And despite the recent slowdown in the global steel market, cargo volumes moving through the Port of Cleveland continued to exceed 2014 numbers, said David Gutheil, vice president of Maritime & Logistics.

"Through October, we were running approximately 12 percent ahead of 2014 tonnage for international cargo. Much of this is due to new cargoes, such as steel pipe, handled by Federal Marine Terminals, and project cargoes, handled by both Federal Marine Terminals and C-Port Maritime.

"The Cleveland-Europe Express has far exceeded 2014 volumes. Although the strong dollar has weakened exports, our container volumes have increased by more than 400 percent compared with 2014, and overall tonnage is up by more than 300 percent compared with last year," he said in a written statement.

Spliethoff also recently announced a monthly service to India via Antwerp that will start in 2016, which will provide shippers with more options.

"In partnership with Spliethoff and C-Port Maritime, we are also working on plans to offer a weekly service between the Port of Cleveland and the Port of Antwerp beginning in 2016," Gutheil said.

Betty Sutton, administrator of the Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corp., said they anticipated the increase and they got it.

October traditionally signals the initial push to get cargo into and out of the Great Lakes Seaway System before the end of the navigation season. Increases were seen in the number of international ships arriving in the system loaded with project cargo for local manufacturers in Cleveland, Toledo, and Duluth. Those same ships left the Seaway System with shipments of grain and project cargo from Milwaukee, Duluth and Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin.

The St. Lawrence Seaway reported that year-to-date total cargo shipments for the period April 2 to Oct. 31 were 27 million metric tons, down 9 percent over the same period in 2014. U.S. grain shipments were up by 32 percent in October over last year. The dry bulk category was up by 6 percent over 2014 with potash, stone, and gypsum in the positive column, at 32, 33, and 69 percent respectively. The general cargo category was down 10 percent. Iron ore and coal remained down in October by 12 and 37 percent respectively. The liquid bulk category posted a downturn of 10 percent.

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By: Leo Ryan, American Journal of Transportation

FMT plays strong cargo-handling role in US and Canada Currently marking its 50th anniversary year, Federal Marine Terminals, widely known to the trade simply as FMT, is continuing to make its presence felt throughout an extensive network of stevedoring facilities at ports in the United States and Canada. Overall business remains robust in 2015, although somewhat below the banner year of 2014, which generated total cargo-handling throughput of 9.3 million tons. "If I compare tonnage in 2015 to the average of what we have seen in the past four or five years, we are still having a really good year," indicated Michel Tosini, FMT Executive Vice-President, in an interview with the American Journal of Transportation. A subsidiary of Montreal-based Fednav Limited, FMT was originally established to complement the freight operations of the Fednav Group. It soon began to function independently. From a small operation in Chicago, it has grown into a substantial enterprise handling cargoes in the Great Lakes, the St. Lawrence River and along the East and Gulf Coasts. On the Great Lakes, FMT facilities are to be found in Burns Harbor, Cleveland, Hamilton (Ontario), Milwaukee and Thorold (Ontario). On the U.S. East Coast and Gulf, they are situated at Albany, Eastport, Lake Charles, Port Manatee and Tampa. The wide range of commodities handled includes steel (a major source of import business), general/project cargo, bagged cargoes, containers, gypsum, machinery, sugar, and wood pulp and forest products. "Steel remains a strong commodity in all of our terminals, especially in the Great Lakes," Tosini noted. While a sizable portion is destined for automobile manufacturing plants, Tosini also mentions tin plate very much used for household appliances. Otherwise, he's observed wind energy components recently being handled in Hamilton - "which could reflect a trend of future wind farms getting back in motion." Brisk bulk cargo activity involving sugar, clinker, fertilizer and other products is being felt at such terminals as Hamilton and Thorold on the St. Lawrence Seaway. Much of the steel – primarily sourced from ArcelorMittal and Tata Steel - is transported from Europe on Fednav's FALLine service between Northern Europe, the St. Lawrence and Great Lakes ports. FALLine and other carriers bring steel products into various ports, including Hamilton, Cleveland and Milwaukee but especially to Burns Harbor. For many carriers, seeking grain as backhaul cargo follows the steel-in shipments. But at Burns Harbor, Tosini reports that "tonnage in steel is down, especially on slabs. We still have some slab cargo received in Burns Harbor in 2014 that has still not made its way into the market. We had been expecting 200,000 tons of slabs in 2015, but that will not likely happen." Generally speaking on the Great Lakes, Tosini stresses: "Without doubt, diversification has helped us to navigate through some pretty tough years. We are not doing quite as well as the peak years, but certainly doing better than the dismal 2009-2010 years. Volumes are back up."

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