The 2025-2026 winter layup list is now up and running at  https://www.boatnerd.com/winter-lay-up-list-2025-2026

Bay City Boat Lines has new owner

   BAY CITY, MI – Bay City Boat Lines has been purchased by the same person who has acquired other area fixtures, such as the Midland Mall, St. Laurent Brothers and the historic State Theatre.
   Local entrepreneur Jordan Dice announced Sunday, Jan. 25, that he had acquired Bay City Boat Lines, which had been for sale since September 2025.
   “These boats have operated here in Bay City for 28 years, all quite successful years,” Dice said via email. “The former owners kept very good records of each year that I spent considerable time reviewing. This business was profitable year-after-year, is a big icon of the city and really something we are fortunate to have as there’s nothing else quite like it in the Great Lakes Bay Region.”
   Bay City Boat Lines was founded in 1998. The boat line gives anyone interested a direct route from the shores of downtown Bay City to the wide waters of the Saginaw Bay through its series of tours.
   Bill Fournier bought the former William M. Miller and brought her to Bay City in 1998 and re-christened the 60-foot boat Princess Wenonah. The boat can hold about 150 passengers. It was built in 1954 in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin.
   The ship was once a ferry boat, helping transfer vehicles from one side of Lake Erie to the other. After retiring from ferry duty, the Wenonah was altered so where cars once sat there’s now a wide area for people to visit and even a cash bar. Up top, where passenger cabins once sat, there is now another deck for viewing pleasures.
   Bay City Boat Lines began operations from Wenonah Park in 1998 and moved a few years later near Ninth Street, behind the former F.P. Horak building, before construction on the DoubleTree hotel and conference center began.
   In 2005, the business moved to Uptown Bay City before then being moved to Middleground Island in 2014. Six years later, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the ships were returned to the city’s eastern banks, with the Wenonah returning to its original spot in Wenonah Park.
   For years, Bay City Boat Lines has offered private charters, themed-music cruises for the public and historic tours throughout its season, which begins in June and usually concludes in mid-October. About 15,000 customers ride the boats each year.
   Information about the sale, such as how much the company sold for, were not disclosed in the announcement.

South Korean submarine maker signs MOU with Algoma Steel

    SAULT STE. MARIE, ON – In its bid to win the massive contract to build Canada’s next generation of submarines, South Korea’s Hanwha Ocean is entering into a long-term strategic arrangement with Algoma Steel, which could result in some parts of the submarines being manufactured in Ontario.   
   The two companies have entered into a binding Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) valued at approximately $345 million, which would see the Korean defence company invest $275 million towards the construction of a new structural steel beam mill in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont.
   Algoma is one of more than a dozen Canadian companies Hanwha has partnered with to provide technology to be used in its manufacturing of submarines for the Royal Canadian Navy. In a news release, Hanwha, citing analysis by KPMG, says their partnerships could result in 15,000 jobs Canada.
   CTV News has not seen the KPMG analysis.
   The federal government wants to procure 12 new diesel-electric powered patrol subs to replace its aging fleet of four Victoria-class submarines, which were built in the ‘90s. It needs at least one new submarine by 2035.
   Only one of the four Canadian vessels is operational, and the country’s top naval commander, Vice-Admiral Angus Topshee, has said the nation is currently unable to meet its military duties to patrol the Pacific, Atlantic and Arctic Oceans.
   Multiple government and corporate sources have told CTV News that the submarine contract will be valued at more than $100 billion over at least three decades. Hanwha Ocean, as well as Germany’s ThyseenKrupp Marine Systems (TKMS) have been shortlisted for the procurement.
   In October, the defence ministers of Germany and of Norway visited Ottawa to meet with government officials to pitch the idea of manufacturing some of the submarines on Canadian soil. The European joint venture is also aiming to partner with other Canadian companies in its bid, and offering to make investments in rare earths, mining and artificial intelligence.
   Hanwha’s initial pitch did not include plans for Canadian manufacturing, instead focused on rapid delivery of the submarines and long-term maintenance contracts. Hanwha said it could deliver four KSS-III submarines by 2035 beginning with the first boat in 2032.
   It takes about six years to build one submarine.
   Monday’s announcement leaves open the door for some parts of the submarine to be made in Canada.
   The announcement was made during a visit by a high-profile delegation led by Kang Hoon-sik, the presidential chief of staff for the Republic of Korea. Hoon-sik is the highest-ranking bureaucrat in South Korea. After meeting with Ontario CEOs in Toronto on Monday, the delegation will travel to Ottawa to continue their charm offensive on Tuesday.
   According to a news release from Algoma, the terms of the MOU would see Hanwha purchase Algoma products and could include related commitments, such as “submarine construction, development of maintenance, repair and overhaul infrastructure to support the fleet.”
   During a visit to South Korea in the fall, Canadian Defence Minister David McGuinty says the company that wins the contract must provide industrial benefits, such as the use of Canadian steel and utilize homegrown technology and expertise.
   The winning bidder must also deliver the submarine within timelines, as well as demonstrate that the submarine has interoperability with vessels from other countries.

 [CTV News]

The 2025-2026 winter layup list is now up and running at  https://www.boatnerd.com/winter-lay-up-list-2025-2026

Frontenac sails from lay up; other vessels fighting ice

    On Sunday, Frontenac left lay up at Port Colborne headed west to Windsor. She is filling in for the Whitefish Bayfor two or perhaps more salt runs. Whitefish Bay incurred bow damage while docking at Windsor Jan. 20. USCG Bristol Bay was escorting her.
   Also on Sunday, Calumet left Detroit’s ice-choked Rouge River headed for Erie, PA, with CCGS Vincent Massey escorting her across Lake Erie. Tankers Baltie and Algoberta were eastbound in northern Lake Huron after passing through the Straits with icebreaker assistance, while Algonova was stuck or hove to off Washington Island in northern Lake Michigan.
   USCG Mackinaw has arrived back at her home port of Cheboygan, MI, from Sault Ste. Marie.
   Wilfred Sykes arrived for winter lay up at Milwaukee Jan 24.

The 2025-2026 winter layup list is now up and running at  https://www.boatnerd.com/winter-lay-up-list-2025-2026

Algoma Mariner arrives in Mexico

   Algoma Mariner arrived in Veracruz, Mexico late in the evening on January 22^nd for drydocking and refit.

[Denny Dushane]

Saginaw River Commercial Shipping Season Report – 2025

By TODD SHORKEY
   Another exciting and interesting year has passed, and a new season of commercial shipping will be here on the Saginaw River in just a few months. That means it is time to review what has happened during the 2025 season. This is my 21st Year-End Report for the Saginaw River. For those who have been around for the long haul, thank you! For those of you who are new to my reports, welcome aboard!
   The 2025 shipping season for the Saginaw River was an interesting one. Virtually the same number of commercial vessel passages from the previous year, but some interesting developments, first time visitors, emergency dredging, development of a fish habitat reef just east of the U.S Army Corps of Engineers Confined Disposal Facility out in Saginaw Bay, Lafayette Bridge being demolished and then the start of rebuilding a new, modern drawbridge in its place, and ice, lots of ice on the Saginaw River and bay at the end of the season.
   The Saginaw River only had one international delivery made by an oceangoing saltwater vessel in 2025. There were continued demolition and remediation efforts at the Consumers Energy, Dan E. Karn power plant in Essexville, with remnants of the coal-fired power generators continuing to be removed. Where the skyline once had six exhaust stacks that were landmarks for fishermen and pleasure boaters coming in off the bay, headed for the Saginaw River, there is now only one. Two gas and oil-fired power generating units are all that are left, scheduled to remain online until 2031. Consumers also has an expansive solar generation farm under construction currently at the site.
   It has been encouraging to see our staple products remaining stable. The 190 commercial vessel passages during 2025 season made it the eighth busiest on the Saginaw River over the past 21 years, the years I have been logging vessel traffic. For reference, the slowest year during the past 21 years? That would be 2014, when there were only 110 vessel passages. Will we ever see higher numbers again? It is definitely possible and there are things underway that I think could help, including loading gypsum for transport out of the Saginaw River and hopefully someday, loading grain once again for export.
   At this point, it is my duty and my tradition to mention and reiterate the following in each of my year-end reports, because the recognition is warranted and worth mentioning again: A lot of hard work is put in by industry leaders, not just here on the Saginaw River locally, but across the entire Great Lakes region. These hard-working individuals continue to actively pursue improvements in infrastructure and to diversify the type of products that are transported by water. The resulting victories, when they happen, allow more opportunities to utilize maritime assets to move products, moving it more economically and more efficiently than other modes of transportation. More than ever, this continues to be crucial as traditional high-volume cargo such as coal and taconite are no longer what they were to the industry. As it is every year, it is my hope that the work being put in now by these industry leaders in the Great Lakes will continue to lead to more opportunities for commercial shipping and better things to come as we head into the future.
   The following report is a look back on the 2025 commercial shipping season on the Saginaw River. It utilizes information and data that I have collected during this period.
   The 2025 season officially began March 21, 2025. Early that morning, when many people were up at the Soo, waiting for the 8am opening of the locks for the season, the tug Samuel de Champlain and her powdered cement carrying barge, Innovation, quietly eased up the Saginaw River with no fanfare, arriving at the AmRize Cement Dock in Essexville around 4am. For the three AmRize workers and myself, who were there for the arrival, it was a beautiful early morning, with clear skies and a light breeze. This start to the season was three days earlier than the 2024 season.
   The 2024 season then ended with the arrival of McAsphalt Advantage on an icy Saginaw River, delivering a liquid asphalt emulsion cargo to Bit-Mat Products of Michigan in the slip at Port Fisher in Bay City on December 23 rd . The 2025 season on the Saginaw River lasted a total of 278 days, covering 10 months, which was three more days than in 2024. The season ended on the exact same day as in 2024 – December 23 rd . For the 2025 commercial shipping season, there was a grand total of 190 commercial vessel passages on the Saginaw River, representing a decrease of five passages compared to the year before. These passages were made by 30 different vessels, two fewer than the previous year, representing 14 different vessel management companies, one less than 2024.

The 2025-2026 winter layup list is now up and running at  https://www.boatnerd.com/winter-lay-up-list-2025-2026

Coast Guard conducts ice-breaking operations

   CLEVELAND –  Coast Guard cutters Mackinaw (WLBB 30) and Neah Bay (WTGB 105) conducted ice-breaking operations to free, assist, and escort vessels transiting the Great Lakes on Jan. 21, 2026.
   The Mackinaw freed and escorted the Wilfred Sykes, a 678-foot motor vessel beset by ice on Lake Huron, and the Neah Bay directly assisted the American Spirit, a 1,004-foot motor vessel icebound on Lake Erie.
   Both of these missions are direct results of Great Lakes District ice-breaking operations Operation Taconite and Operation Coal Shovel. These are domestic ice-breaking operations established to provide ice-breaking services to assist vessels in emergency or urgent situations, assist communities in need and facilitate navigation on ice-covered waterways.
   “Coast Guardsmen have worked from sunup to sundown, to ensure the safe navigation of the ice-stricken maritime transportation system,” said Lt. Cmdr. Jeremy Tyrrell, Neah Bay’s commanding officer

[USCG]

Cold weather boosts Great Lakes ice coverage

   Michigan’s extreme cold this week has allowed ice to expand quickly throughout the Great Lakes, with officials reporting the highest coverage of the 2025-26 season.
   On Tuesday, Jan. 20, 25.08% of the Great Lakes were ice-covered, with Lake Erie recording the most ice at 76.57%., according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory.
   The thickest ice has formed on Lake Superior’s shorelines — 12-28 inches in places — with lakes Erie, Michigan and Huron seeing a range of thickness from less than 2 inches up to 12 inches. Though the ice is thickening, shelf ice along shorelines isn’t considered safe.
   The Arctic temperatures — with wind chills as low as minus 35 degrees, according the National Weather Service — are forecast to linger in Michigan through the weekend, so ice is likely to continue expanding through next week.
   Lake Superior is forecast to see above-normal ice conditions this winter. Lake Ontario is forecast to see slightly below-normal ice; and lakes Huron, Michigan, Erie and St. Clair are predicted to see near-normal ice, according to the North American Ice Service’s seasonal outlook, issued on Dec. 1.
   Last season, the Great Lakes experienced ice levels that were near normal, rebounding after the historic winter low in 2023-24. Lake Erie recorded the highest amount of coverage in 2024-25, reaching 95.8% (which is typical as it is the shallowest of the Great Lakes) and Lake Superior had the second-most coverage at its peak, 71.1%.
   As the 2025-26 ice season continues, researchers will track ice percentages daily. To track the progression, the U.S. National Ice Center posts ice charts every Tuesday and Wednesday.

[Lansing State Journal]

The 2025-2026 winter layup list is now up and running at  https://www.boatnerd.com/winter-lay-up-list-2025-2026

Mackinaw docks at Sault Ste. Marie

   USCG icebreaker Mackinaw transited up the St. Marys River Thursday morning, mooring at the Valley Camp dock around noon. No departure time is known.

[Know Your Ships]

Great Lakes shipping season is over. Where did all the ‘lakers’ go?

   LANSING, MI – With the Soo Locks closed until March, Great Lakes freighters have headed to port for winter maintenance at harbors from Minnesota to New York. Just a few of the bulk carriers are still moving as ice begins to cover more and more of the waterways.
   The last ship through the locks on Jan. 15, 2026, the American Spirit, delivered its final load of iron ore to Conneaut, Ohio, earlier this week and was en route back across Lake Erie toward Toledo as of Tuesday afternoon.
   Other 1,000-foot ships were already tied off for the next few months, as were dozens of other vessels that ply the waterways hauling ore, cement, grain and other bulk goods.
   The Great Lakes’ 13 1,000-foot freighters are owned by various companies and are going into winter layup at different locations, here’s where to find them, according to the Great Lakes shipping website www.BoatNerd.com.

• Stewart J. Cort: The ship will be in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, at the city heavy lift dock. The first 1,000-foot ship, at exactly that length, was launched May 1, 1972. It’s owned by the Interlake Steamship Company.
•   Presque Isle: The tug and barge combo owned by Great Lakes Fleet reached the Carmeuse Dock at Erie, Pennsylvania, on Jan. 17, 2026. The vessel is the only 1,000-foot tug/barge combo on the lakes, according to Pure Michigan.
•   Edwin H. Gott: The 1,004-foot freighter owned by Great Lakes Fleet reached the CSX docks at Toledo, Ohio, on Jan. 18, 2026.
•   James R. Barker: Interlake’s 1,004-foot-long freighter reached the Fincantieri Shipyard in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, on Jan. 5, 2026.
•    Indiana Harbor: The 1,004-foot-long American Steamship vessel reached Lakehead Pipeline in Superior, Wisconsin, on Jan. 5, 2026.
•    Mesabi Miner: The 1,004-foot Interlake vessel reached Fraser Shipyard in Superior on Jan. 10, 2026.
•    Burns Harbor: The 1,000-foot American Steamship freighter docked at Elevator M at Superior on Jan. 13, 2026.
•   Walter J. McCarthy Jr.: The 1,000-foot American Steamship vessel pulled up to Pinney Dock No. 4 at Ashtabula, Ohio, on Jan. 16. 2026.
•   Edgar B. Speer: The 1,004-foot Great Lakes Fleet ship reach Fincantieri Shipyard in Sturgeon Bay on Jan. 18, 2026.
•   American Integrity: The 1,000-foot American Steamship vessel docked at Don Jon Shipyard in Erie, Pennsylvania, on Jan. 14, 2026.
•   American Century: The 1,000-foot American Steamship vessel docked at Pinney Dock No. 4 at Ashtabula on Jan. 14, 2026.
•   American Spirit: The 1,004-foot American Steamship freighter was en route to Toledo as of Tuesday afternoon, Jan. 20.
•   Paul R. Tregurtha: The queen of the lakes at 1,013.5 feet long, the Interlake Steamship Company freighter docked at the Midwest Overseas Terminal in Toledo on Jan. 14, 2026.

   The Soo Locks closed Jan. 15 and the Poe Lock will reopen for spring shipping on March 25. The MacArthur Lock is scheduled to reopen in late April 2026.
   Marinetraffic.com maintains a real-time map of all international shipping and includes the ability to click on Great Lakes ships to see their names, destinations, speeds and more.

[Lansing State Journal]

Dock condition bars cruise chips from docking at Mackinac Island

   The St. Ignace News reports that cruise ships will not be allowed to dock at Arnold Transit Co.’s Main Dock on Mackinac Island in 2026. The decision is a result of a Mackinac County court hearing during which attorneys for the ferry companies acquiesced to the City of Mackinac Island’s request to prohibit mooring due to the condition of the dock.
   Cruise ships can still anchor and shuttle guests to the Island via tender.

The 2025-2026 winter layup list is now up and running at  https://www.boatnerd.com/winter-lay-up-list-2025-2026

Coast Guard keeps vessel traffic moving

   U.S. Coast Guard cutter Mackinaw (WLBB 30) assisted the steamer Wilfred Sykes Wednesday through heavy ice in the vicinity of the Mackinaw Bridge. The Sykes is bound for Burns Harbor, IN. Mackinaw was hove to south of Lime Island Wednesday night.
   American Spirit finally arrived at Toledo for winter layup on Wednesday afternoon, assisted by USCG Neah Bay and the tugs New York and Michigan. After delivering the American Spirit, the Neah Bay turned its attention to the tanker Algoterra, bound for Nanticoke, assisting it through the Pelee Passage.
   Most vessels have gone into layup, except for vessels running salt and some tankers. Algoma Central’s tanker Algoberta, unloading at Green Bay, is expected to depart eastbound, likely for Sarnia, Thursday morning.
   Calumet was northbound on Lake Michigan Wednesday night, headed for Detroit.
   Frontenac’s AIS has popped back on at Port Colborne, heralding her return to service to fill in for Whitefish Bay, which has gone into layup at Sarnia after incurring hull damage.

[Know Your Ships]

The 2025-2026 winter layup list is now up and running at  https://www.boatnerd.com/winter-lay-up-list-2025-2026

Whitefish Bay damaged, Frontenac fitting out

 Whitefish Bay laid up at Sarnia Monday night. The vessel reportedly sustained damage after she struck a dock and is now tied up at the Cargill Dock  as a result.
   To maintain service continuity, Frontenac – which had been laid up in Port Colborne – is now fitting out, the crew has been called back and she will return to active service to complete the final two salt voyages originally scheduled for Whitefish Bay.
   At this time, the nature and cause of the damage have not been confirmed. According to AIS, Whitefish Bay’s last port of call was the Morton Salt Dock in Windsor, ON, and she may have struck the dock there. From photos, it looks like she did not load.

[Janey Anderson – Ship Junkies – Lakes, Locks & Rivers (LL&R)]

The 2025-2026 winter layup list is now up and running at  https://www.boatnerd.com/winter-lay-up-list-2025-2026

A fond farewell to a Seaway/Great Lakes heavyweight
The Atlantic Huron makes her final voyage

   CLAYTON, NY – An iron lady of the St. Lawrence Seaway, a familiar site along the waterway, has completed her final voyage to close out more than 40 years of service.
   The Atlantic Huron, owned by Canadian Steamship Lines, now rests at Sheet Harbor, Nova Scotia, where it arrived on Jan. 5. Work has commenced to dismantle and recycle the bulk carrier.
   For its final assignment in December, Atlantic Huron picked up iron ore in Superior, Wisconsin, for delivery to an export terminal in Quebec City, where it arrived Dec. 31.
   Delivered in 1984 at Collingwood Shipyards in Ontario as Prairie Harvest, the 736-foot vessel was one of the last straight-deck bulk carriers built in Canada and the first of the Caribbean Class, designed for both Great Lakes and ocean service. Converted to a self-unloader in 1989 and renamed Atlantic Huron, (for the ocean and the Great Lake) she went on to carry grain, ore, coal, salt and other bulk cargoes throughout the Great Lakes, St. Lawrence Seaway and beyond.
   CSL issued a statement on the vessel’s service shortly after she arrived at Sheet Harbor:
   “For the crews who sailed with her, Atlantic Huron was more than a vessel. She was a workplace, a home, and a constant companion through long watches, rough weather, and quiet nights on the lakes. Generations of seafarers learned their trade on her decks and engines, shared meals in her galley, and formed friendships that last a lifetime. We give our final salute to a ship that gave everything she had, right to the end.”
   One of the crew members on board Atlantic Huron this season was Brockville, Ontario, native Catherine Schmuck — aka the “Ship to Shore” chef. She has worked on scores of ships that travel the Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway System and has written two cookbooks based on her experiences. She also has an e-magazine, “The Galley Girl’s Diary,” that is published weekly when she is aboard a vessel and bi-weekly when she’s at home in Mont Tremblant, Quebec.
   Schmuck completed her fourth assignment this year aboard Atlantic Huron.
   “It was a privilege to be there for its last trip,” Schmuck said in a phone interview on Monday, a couple of days after taking a 24-hour train ride from Nova Scotia to Montreal. “Each ship has its own character. There are things I like about them and look forward to seeing again.”
   According to John U. Bacon, author of “The Gales of November: The Untold Story of the Edmund Fitzgerald,” Great Lakes freighters can easily have a lifespan of 50 years, outlasting saltwater freighters due to less corrosive freshwater.
   Atlantic Huron’s final voyage was a constant topic of conversation in the ship’s dining area, Schmuck said.
   “Some of the guys have sailed together for years,” she said. “They were sad about being broken up — with everyone going to a different ship. It was a big topic of conversation every day.”
   Like other ships on the Seaway system, Atlantic Huron faced January delays caused by ice. The 2025 commercial navigation season in the Montreal-Lake Ontario section of the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Seaway officially closed on Monday, the latest of any season since the navigational waterway opened in 1959.
   “It’s expected this time of year,” Schmuck said. “Winter sailing is all about delays.”
   Atlantic Huron was delayed for a few days above Montreal due to ice at locks and in the area. An issue on shore caused a delay of about 24 hours in Quebec City while unloading, and a delay of about 36 hours was experienced when the ship was forced to take shelter in a cove at Cape Breton Island. The vessel then went up and around Cape Breton and down the coast to Halifax/Sheet Harbor.
   As the ship’s chef, Schmuck had to do some juggling when faced with delays.
   In the first few days of January, Atlantic Huron made a detour. “We left the Seaway and made our way to this area (location pin) to anchor for 36 hours to wait out bad weather,” chef Catherine Schmuck said. “Then we left and went around the tip of Cape Breton, then down the coast to Halifax to pick up a pilot, then back up a short distance top Sheet Harbor. Illustration by C. Schmuck
   The challenge for me personally was yes, we wanted to make sure we had enough food,” Schmuck said. “But we also wanted to make sure we didn’t have too much food.”
   Because Atlantic Huron was being scrapped, no food was left behind and wasted, Schmuck said.
   Christmas was spent docked at a wharf in Port Weller, Ontario, on the Welland Canal, which connects Lake Erie and Lake Ontario.
   “Some of the crew who usually take December off to spend Christmas at home arranged to stay on board this year to accompany the Huron on her last trip,” Schmuck said. “It was perfect because there was no rocking or rolling, and everybody had a chance to come in and eat without having to rush in and out. It was quite nice. I did a prime rib, of course with lots of appetizers, desserts and cookies.”
   Even though there was some nostalgia on the final trip, Schmuck said the general sense was that Atlantic Huron had run her course.
   “It’s like when you have a pet, when you know it’s time,” she said. “It was time for the final sailing. It wasn’t like, ‘She can still go!’”
   But the chef did experience some sad moments, especially when she departed the ship for the final time at Sheet Harbor. Much of the crew had departed at stops along the way, including nine who departed at Quebec City.
   “We were just five for a few days,” Schmuck said. “On Tuesday night, we went down the ship’s ladder, and we couldn’t believe that the name had already been painted over. The CSL painted on the side was also gone.”
   Any thoughts of taking a final photo of the ship, highlighting its name, evaporated.
   “That was the moment of wow, OK. That’s it. It’s over.”

[Watertown Daily Times – Chris Brock]

Coast Guard closes Pipe Island Passage in St. Marys River

   SAULT STE. MARIE, Mich. – In accordance with 33 CFR 162.117, Vessel Traffic Service St.
Marys River is scheduled to close the Pipe Island Passage, east of Pipe Island Shoal and north of
Pipe Island Twins from Watson Reef Light to Sweets Point, on Jan. 22, 2026 at 10 a.m.
   The Pipe Island Course will become a two-way route.
   The Coast Guard would like to remind all recreational ice users to plan their activity carefully,
use caution on the ice, and stay away from shipping channels. Further inquiries can be made by phone to Vessel Traffic Service St. Marys River at 906-635-3299 or via email at SOOTFC@USCG.MIL.

The 2025-2026 winter layup list is now up and running at  https://www.boatnerd.com/winter-lay-up-list-2025-2026

Ports Toronto returns to its roots as the Toronto Port Authority

   TORONTO, ON – After operating as Ports Toronto for a decade, the organization that owns and operates Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport and is responsible for stewardship of Toronto’s harbour is returning to its roots and will once again be known as the Toronto Port Authority. This rebrand marks a return to its legal name and historic federal identity and signifies a renewed commitment to its legacy as a city builder, economic catalyst for the region and country, and owner and operator of Toronto’s national, multi-modal transportation gateways.
   This rebrand comes at a pivotal moment. The Toronto region is growing rapidly, and Canada is placing new urgency on resilient supply chains, modernized infrastructure, and sustainable urban mobility. At the heart of this shift is Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport, one of the country’s most important urban airports and a major contributor to the region’s economic dynamism, the Port of Toronto, and the Cruise Ship Terminal, all of which are strategically positioned to support growth and strengthen Canada’s interconnected infrastructure network.
   “Reintroducing the Toronto Port Authority name is more than a rebrand –- it’s a powerful affirmation of our foundational purpose and our future vision,” said RJ Steenstra, President and CEO, Toronto Port Authority.
   “We honour our 115-year legacy as a city builder and steward of Toronto’s harbour, shaping the waterfront and enabling the city’s evolution. As the owner and operator of Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport, which provides critical business connectivity and a significant economic engine, as well as the Port of Toronto, which plays a vital role in ensuring resilient supply chains through imports of essential materials, the Toronto Port Authority plays a key role in economic growth for the future. This renewed identity reflects our commitment to modernization, sustainability, and public value for Toronto, Ontario, and Canada.”
   The Toronto Port Authority’s transportation gateways deliver substantial benefits to the region and the country:

• Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport generates approximately $2 billion in annual economic output and supports more than 4,500 jobs, making it a key driver for Toronto’s economy.
• Billy Bishop is set to launch U.S. CBP Preclearance in early 2026, facilitating bilateral trade, with additional destinations expected in 2026.
• The Port of Toronto generates more than $460 million in economic activity for Ontario, importing critical materials like steel, cement, sugar, and road salt, securing resilient supply chains for the region.
• Marine shipping through the Port removes more than 51,000 truckloads annually from GTA roads, significantly reducing congestion and greenhouse gas emissions.
• The Port of Toronto Cruise Ship Terminal welcomes nearly 20,000 visitors annually and contributes to a regional $280-million Great Lakes tourism economy, directly supporting Toronto’s hospitality, retail and cultural sectors.

   Located 10 minutes from downtown, The Outer Harbour Marina is one of Canada’s largest freshwater marinas and holds a Diamond designation in the Boating Ontario Clean Marine Eco-Rating Program, one of the highest ranking attainable for marinas that follow environmental best practices.
   The Toronto Port Authority’s integrated assets create a waterfront mobility network that moves people, goods, and visitors in ways few global cities can match. As the only port authority in Canada to own and operate an airport, Toronto Port Authority is uniquely positioned to pilot new approaches to harbour mobility and connectivity—mirroring innovations seen in leading waterfront cities around the world. This multi-modal approach not only drives economic growth and competitiveness but also advances sustainable, integrated urban transportation across the region.

[Maritime Magazine]  

A tough shipping season ends with Duluth’s Twin Ports facing stiff economic headwinds

   DULUTH, MN – When the Soo Locks, which connect Lake Superior to the lower Great Lakes, closed for winter maintenance just before midnight Thursday, it marked the end to a difficult Great Lakes shipping season, especially for the Twin Ports of Duluth and Superior, Wis.
   “It’s been a year of headwinds,” acknowledged Kevin Beardsley, executive director of the Duluth Seaway Port Authority, noting that the total tonnage shipped will likely come in well below last year’s number.
   “There’s no single factor driving the decline. It’s a combination of market trends, shifting trade lanes and geopolitical forces,” said Beardsley.
   Less cargo means fewer ships, which are a huge draw for tourists who flock to Duluth every summer to see one thousand-foot-long ore boats and colorful ocean-going vessels, affectionately dubbed “salties,” glide under the Aerial Lift Bridge and through the city’s shipping canal.
   About 550 ships sailed into the Duluth-Superior port in 2025, compared to 688 vessels last year.
   There are several reasons for the slump in shipping out of the Twin Ports. The first round of bad news came last March, shortly after the shipping season got underway, when one of the huge taconite mines on Minnesota’s Iron Range announced it was temporarily closing. A second mine, Hibbing Taconite, also partially shut down. Nearly a year later, those facilities remain idled.
   Taconite pellets from the mines are shipped on trains to the Twin Ports, where they’re mounded into enormous piles and then loaded onto ships bound for steel mills around the Great Lakes. Iron ore makes up more than half the port’s cargo every year.
   But this year, iron ore shipments were down 16 percent due in part to fewer shipments to Canadian steel mills, because of the Trump administration’s trade conflict with Canada.
   The port suffered another blow at the end of August when agribusiness giant CHS, Inc. closed its grain terminal in Superior, Wis., With over 500 towering silos and 23 employees, the nearly century-old terminal was the largest grain facility in the Twin Ports.
   “It just truly is the end of an era,” said John Griffith, executive vice president of Ag for CHS. “There’s not any big problem that came to rise,” Griffith added. “It’s just that the world has changed.”
   For years, farmers in the northern plains have shipped durum and high-protein spring wheat by truck and by train to the Twin Ports. From there, it’s loaded onto “salties” that sail through the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway and then across the Atlantic to the Mediterranean, where it’s made into high-end breads and pastries, pasta and couscous.
   But it’s now more efficient for CHS to load grain onto long, 120-car trains and send it to deep water ports in the Pacific Northwest or the Gulf Coast, Griffith said. The ships that call on those ports carry two and a half times as much grain as the ships that can make it through the Great Lakes’ lock and dam system.
   It’s a difference of “900,000 bushels versus 2.3 million bushels on a single vessel,” Griffith said. “And so you can just imagine the scale and the efficiency that comes with that.”
   The infrastructure on the Great Lakes isn’t large enough to allow ships of that size to pass through. They also sit much deeper in the water than what Great Lakes ports can accommodate.
   Those ships that pick up and haul grain from the Twin Ports also need to be carrying cargo to Duluth and Superior, to make the week-long sail through the St. Lawrence Seaway work economically. “It becomes very expensive to come in empty, which then makes the port less competitive with those big boats that are more efficient anyway,” said Griffith.
   The third piece of bad news came in the fall, when Midwest Energy Resources announced it would close its coal loading terminal in the Twin Ports in the summer of 2026. 56 employees will lose their jobs. In recent years, coal has made up about 15 percent of the total tonnage of cargo shipped out of the port.
   “That one was not a surprise, but still it’s significant,” said Daniel Rust, a professor of transportation and logistics management at the University of Wisconsin-Superior.
   The facility opened 50 years ago. It received shipments of low-sulfur coal from the Power River Basin in Wyoming and Montana via rail and shipped it to coal-fired power plants around the Great Lakes.
   Coal shipments peaked in 2008. But they’ve since declined by about 75 percent as electricity is increasingly generated by cleaner-burning natural gas and by renewable energy sources such as wind and solar.
   “If that terminal doesn’t get some other operator to come in and it does just shutter and sit there empty, that’s a pretty big blow for the Twin Ports,” said Rust.

Break bulk cargo a bright spot   
   For more than 150 years, the Twin Ports have been a critical energy transportation hub in the heart of the country. In the late 1800s and early 1900s, coal and other supplies were shipped west to Duluth to support growing cities. More recently coal has moved in the opposite direction to eastern power plants that needed cleaner-burning fuel.
   And now the port has become a hub for the shipment of wind energy components. 2025 marked the 20th consecutive year the port has received shipments of turbine blades and other machinery that in turn gets loaded on trucks and trains and is shipped to wind farms around the upper Midwest.
   And despite the Trump administration’s animosity toward wind energy, the number of those shipments continue to grow in the Duluth port. “2026 is looking very promising for more project cargo such as wind,” said the Port Authority’s Beardsley, who notes that some of the blades and gear coming in are being used to repower older wind farms with newer equipment.
   Wind energy components are part of a broader category known as break bulk cargo that’s been a bright spot for the Twin Ports — large goods, like wind turbine blades, that can’t fit into standard shipping containers.
   In 2023, a new service was launched that provides monthly cargo shipping between Duluth and Antwerp, Belgium, Europe’s second largest seaport. That service was recently expanded to connect Mediterranean ports to Duluth.
   “We’ve seen continued growth in that area,” said Port Authority spokesperson Jayson Hron. “It’s helped bring more ocean going traffic into the port with various break bulk cargoes, and also some of those ships have then been able to sail from the port with grain.”
   The service can handle both the break bulk cargo and shipping containers, which can then be transported from Duluth via truck or train. It also allows for something known as “ship parceling.”
   “Which means you can partially load a ship,” explained Hron. “So if you’re a manufacturer or an operator here in Minnesota or Wisconsin, and you know that you really only have one or two or five containers to move to Europe with your goods, that’s fine.”
   The shipments have brought in huge pieces of machinery used in a Duluth paper mill and an Iron Range taconite mine. It’s also been used to export niche agricultural products like beet pellets and kidney beans.
   There’s real potential for continued growth in that service, said UW Superior’s Rust. But he said Great Lakes shipping will always be hindered by its harsh winters, which force shipping to shut down every year from mid-January to late March.
   “The seasonality of the Great Lakes I think is probably the greatest impediment to developing new supply chains, new cargoes that could be coming into the Twin Ports and exported from the Twin Ports,” Rust said.
   Rust added that the Twin Ports will likely soon lose its bragging rights as the busiest Great Lakes port, and will be surpassed by Chicago for shipping the most tonnage each year.
   “I think that’s going to be just psychologically, a real shift for the port,” Rust said.
   Still, port officials remain bullish. They’re hopeful that new markets such as sustainable fuels or copper nickel-mining could emerge. A new taconite mine, Mesabi Metallics, is also slated to open later this year.
   There’s also the prospect of growing the ship building and repair industry in the Twin Ports. Fraser Shipyards in Superior employs about 200 people. That workforce swells to around 600 this time of year, when ships need maintenance and repairs while they are laid up for the winter.
   The company also manufactures smaller watercraft, including a custom-built icebreaking ferry recently shipped to the Beausoleil First Nation in Canada.
   The company recently received an $800,000 federal grant to install a huge crane in its shipyard. CEO Patrick Kelly says the Great Lakes are an underused resource.
   “You talk to any vessel operator, tugboat operator, port terminal operator, and they’ll tell you they’re about 50 percent utilized. So we have great infrastructure. It’s not being used to its fullest capacity. Let’s find other businesses, other products to bring to the Great Lakes,” Kelly implored.
   That’s what the Duluth Seaway Port Authority and other agencies are trying to do. They’re buoyed by a simple geographic advantage the Twin Ports will always enjoy — its location as the farthest inland seaport in North America.
   “We know there’s opportunities out there, and we’re chasing them,” said Beardsley. “We just need some of these headwinds to become tailwinds.”

[MPR News]