Marquette Season
01/21
Marquette's shipping season has ended and what a year it was. Foreign steel, 9-11, mill closings and mine shut downs all had an effect on this shipping season. Numbers for December and January were up compared to last season however, it was not near enough to help the total season.
Shipping traffic in and out of Marquette as a whole was down by 19% compared the 2000-2001 season. This equated to 385 ships visiting both harbors this year compared to 474 last season.
Lower Harbor
The lower harbor provided a mixed outcome. A total of 51 vessels visited the lower harbor which was down from 64 vessels (-20%) that visited last season. The H. Lee White led all vessels this season by making 18 visits to the harbor. The John Boland made 12 visits. Both the White and the Boland increased the number of trips to the lower harbor this season compared to last season. The only other vessel to increase their visits to the lower harbor was the cruise ship c. Columbus which made 4 visits.
Other vessels making trips to the lower harbor included six trips by the American Mariner, three by the Adam Cornelius, two each by the U.S.C.G. Sundew and Mackinaw, and finally one each by the U.S.C.G Buckthorn, Courtney Burton, Kiyi, and St. Clair. The Buffalo and the Sam Laud were the only two vessels that were seen last season but not seen this season in the lower harbor.
In conclusion, 92% of all vessels visiting the lower harbor were American flagged ship vessels with the American Steamship Co. leading the way with 78% (40 visits) of the visits, followed by the U.S.C.G. with 10% (5 visits) of the visits, and Oglebay Norton having 2% (1 visit) of the visit. Another 1% of the visits were other U.S. flagged vessels. Foreign vessels made up 8% (4 visits) of the visits which was accomplished by the c. Columbus.
Upper Harbor
Events around the country as well as low water levels had an impact on shipping in and out of the harbor. A total of 334 vessels visited the harbor this season which was down by 19% from last season when 410 vessels visited the harbor.
Leading the way with total visits this season was the Lee Tregurtha with 43 visits. Following close behind were the Charles Beeghly with 37 visits, the Algomarine with 34 visits and the Kaye Barker and the Algosteel each with 31 visits. The John Boland and the H. Lee White each had 19 visits while the Great Lakes Trader had 17. Other vessels making visits included the Hebert Jackson with 11 visits, Mesabi Miner with 10 visits, the American Mariner with 9 visits, the James Barker with 8 visits, the Adam Cornelius and the Peter Cresswell each with 7 visits, the Canadian Transfer (who was last season's winner with over 100 visits) only made 6 visits this season, the Paul Tregurtha, the John Aird, and the Agawa Canyon each had five visits, the Courtney Burton, the Fred White and the Buckeye each had 4 visits, the Capt. Henry Jackman had 3 visits, the Sarah Spencer and the Algosoo each had 2 visits, while the following vessels each had one visit each; Joseph Thompson, Middletown, the Algowest (now the Peter Cresswell), Armco, Earl Oglebay, Sam Laud, U.S.C.G. Sundew, the Reserve, David Norton and Wolverine. Only two vessels, the Elton Hoyt and the James Norris, that visited last season failed to make visits this season.
The American flagged ship vessels made 71% of all visits (238 visits) lead by Lakes Shipping Co with 74 visits and Interlake Steamship with 72 visits. Other U.S. shipping companies included American Steamship with 55 visits, Oglebay Norton with 18 visits, Upper Lakes Barge with 17, and Upper Lakes Towing and U.S.G.C. each with one visit. The Canadians, with 29% of the visits, were lead by Algoma Central which was the over-all single company leader with 88 visits followed by Upper Lakes Group with 6 visits and Canadian Steamship with 2 visits.
Reported by: Art Pickering
