Great Lakes Iron Ore Trade Down in June

CLEVELAND – Shipments of iron ore on the Great Lakes totaled 4.9 million tons in June, a decrease of 9.6 percent from 2024.  Shipments were 1.2 percent below the month’s 5-year average.

Year-to-date the iron ore trade stands at 16.6 million tons, a decrease of 16.1 percent compared to the previous year’s total.  Iron shipments are below their 5-year average by 8.9 percent for the first half of the year.

Since 1880, Lake Carriers’ has represented the U.S.-flag Great Lakes fleet, which today can move more than 90 million tons of cargos annually that are the foundation of American industry, infrastructure, and power: iron ore, stone, coal, cement, and other dry bulk materials such as grain, salt, and sand.  More information is available at www.lcaships.com.

Michigan Maritime Museum to hold film showcase this month

Coming soon to the Michigan Maritime Museum in South Haven will be a film series featuring stories from around the Great Lakes.

The museum’s Ashley Deming tells us the first ever Sweetwater Film Showcase will be Thursday, July 24, and Friday, July 25 at the museum. They’ll show short and feature-length documentaries that tell stories about underrepresented communities connected to the Great Lakes.

“We’re going to tell stories of women, of Black Americans, of indigenous nations, of military veterans,” Deming said. “So lots of different groups are going to be represented through this two-day showcase and 10 separate documentaries.”

Deming says the films range in length from seven minutes to 91 minutes and cover a broad range of stories.

“We have a documentary about Boblo boats. We have a documentary about military veterans doing scientific research and exploration in Lake Huron.”

There are also documentaries about a Tuskegee Airman who was lost in Lake Huron and the Native American perspective on the Great Lakes.

Deming says it will be $20 to attend each day of screenings, and they’ll have drinks and popcorn available. Since this is the Maritime Museum’s first film showcase, they’re starting out small, but she hopes the event can be brought back next year.

You can learn more about the film series right here.  https://michiganmaritimemuseum.org/sweetwater-film-showcase/