First saltie arrives in Duluth on Monday morning

DULUTH, MN – The first saltie of the 2025-2026 maritime year arrived in Duluth Monday morning and was celebrated by Twin Ports officials.

It’s an annual tradition that signals the end of winter and the ice that prevents easy travel on the Great Lakes. This year, the bulk carrier Federal Nagara claimed the honor. She is 656 feet long and carries a load of sugar beet processing equipment bound for the Red River Valley. It was transported from Bremer, Germany.

Capt. R.C. Sanjeewa was presented gifts from officials representing the port, the cities of Duluth and Superior and the area news media. Sanjeewa said he is familiar with the Twin Ports, having been here with the Fednav-owned vessel several times in past years.

Kristi Osheim won the first vessel contest, sponsored by Visit Duluth, guessing the arrival time within 38 second of when the ship actually entered the port.

Business North

Two groups offer raffles for trips on the Edwin H. Gott

The Lake Superior Marine Museum Association and The Soo Locks Visitors’ Center Association are raffling off a round-trip cruise on the 1,000-footer Edwin H. Gott.

Visit these websites or see fliers in the gallery below.

https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=1052918876872355&set=a.458641912966724
https://www.lsmma.com/

Severe cuts at NOAA would kill Great Lakes data buoy network

ANN ARBOR, MI — Severe cuts proposed at the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) would shutter a Great Lakes data network which aids fishermen and helps forecast threats to beaches and drinking water intakes.

The Great Lakes Observing System (GLOS) is facing potential shutdown of its real-time data network of buoys and meteorological towers under a fiscal 2026 Trump administration budget proposal that cuts roughly $1.6 billion from NOAA.

The proposed cuts are detailed in a budget passback memo obtained by the San Francisco Chronicle and other news outlets.

The White House Office of Management and Budget proposes eliminating the Great Lakes buoy system’s parent program, the Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS), as part of a proposed halving of the National Ocean Service line office budget.

The proposal is part of a broader Trump administration effort to slash the federal budget and workforce which has already resulted in job cuts at the Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory (GLERL) in Ann Arbor, where GLOS is based.

Former NOAA officials and researchers say the proposed budget effectuates a Project 2025 goal to entirely break up the agency and privatize much of its services.

If Congress approves the proposed budget cuts, GLOS program managers say the buoy and tower network would go offline within a couple months.

“This map is going to go dark,” said Jen Boehme, GLOS chief executive.

The Great Lakes Observing System (GLOS) uses Seagull, a cloud-based data platform to make data on Great Lakes water and weather conditions freely available.

The loss of an 8-state observation network appears in conflict with goals in the White House OMB passback memo, which says the Department of Commerce is being refocused on “core activities” such as “enforcing trade laws, producing core statistical products, conducting leading edge R&D, and collecting essential scientific observations like ocean and weather data to support navigation and forecasting.”

The memo calls for eliminating functions “misaligned with the president’s agenda and the expressed will of the American people,” and curtailing climate programs at NOAA.

The GLOS nonprofit is almost entirely funded through federal dollars, according to its 2024 annual report. The NOAA IOOS program supplied roughly $3.3 million last year, which was supplemented by roughly $860,000 in infrastructure law grants.

That funding supports deployment of more than 250 of buoys, towers, underwater gliders and high-frequency radar which aids weather forecasting, search-and-rescue operations, maritime navigation, flood warning and harmful algae bloom and alerts.

The system’s nearshore buoys are popular with commercial and recreational anglers, who can “text a buoy” for water temperatures and other conditions.

Its high-frequency radar system in the Straits of Mackinac helps map the speed and direction of currents to aid navigation and improve emergency response.

The observing system’s data is freely available on Seagull, an online dashboard GLOS says is used by anglers, boaters, tour operators, scuba divers, beachgoers, water treatment plant managers, researchers, vessel pilots and cruise ship operators

About 70 percent of the system users are “folks who just want to figure out, ‘is it safe to go to the beach? Can I go out on my boat today?’” Boehme said. “These are tools and observations that aren’t replaceable by the NOAA programs that would remain.”

In Ohio, the buoy network extends inland up the Maumee River watershed and measures nutrients bleeding off farmland, which Heidelberg University researchers use to help NOAA forecast the severity of the annual toxic algae bloom in Lake Erie.

Models used in algae forecasting are housed at GLERL in Ann Arbor. That facility is also facing elimination under the proposed budget, which closes the NOAA Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research.

The GLERL lab has already lost 35 percent of its staff this year, according to former staff members who testified before a Michigan Senate committee this week.

Read the full story here: https://www.mlive.com/environment/2025/04/severe-cuts-at-noaa-would-kill-great-lakes-data-buoy-network.html?fbclid=IwY2xjawJyXzhleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHkPpLx09OI0FeGnqO3IxyQKtNNg1XqEYBqOe5JWcNPxjDObA6mlEbu6SsjbK_aem_Aeo8i7yV6C_8dRqkqCt3aA

Lake Michigan water levels drop below long-term average for first time in a decade

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has been monitoring Great Lakes water levels for over 100 years.

“Over this past year, we have noticed Lake Michigan, Huron dip down below long-term average water levels for the first time in a decade,” U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Megan Royal said.

Adelaide Pointe on Muskegon Lake opened last year with all floating docks to accommodate various water depths.

“When the water level goes down the total draft available from the water level down to the bottom of the lake or the marina changes pretty significantly,” Ryan Leestma, owner and founder of Adelaide Pointe, said. “This is drafted to nine feet deep even at low water. There’s a lot of sand that we took out of here in order to make sure that we had proper depth.”

Leestma noted an increase in dry marina sales as lakefront homeowners face challenges with dock length due to lower water levels.

“We are selling twice as many dry slips as we are wet slips right now. That’s a combination of water levels and the cost of having your own stuff or buying your own dock, or getting a different lift, and the hassle,” Leestma said.

The Army Corps of Engineers forecasts water levels six months ahead and expects a seasonal rise over the next few months, though levels will likely remain slightly below averages throughout the summer.

Fox 17

New designation will protect Indiana’s Lake Michigan shipwrecks

Apr 18, 2025 |

Ranger III seeks QMED/oiler

A small-ship cruise operator
is pursuing a comeback in the U.S.

Victory Cruise Lines is relaunching in April with Great Lakes and Canada cruises. American Queen Voyages’ founder, John Waggoner, is reviving the brand with two 190-passenger ships, Victory I and Victory II.

The vessels, which were purpose-built to sail the Great Lakes, the St. Lawrence Seaway and French-Canadian Maritimes, were owned by American Queen Voyages before it shut down last year (Waggoner was no longer involved with the company at the time). American Queen Voyages acquired Victory Cruise Lines in 2019.

Both ships have been refurbished and will sail popular and lesser-visited ports within North America. Many of Victory’s customers want to “wrap (themselves) in the American or Canadian flag,” founder and chairman Waggoner said.

“I think what we find is that a lot of our guests have traveled all over the world, and now they are looking for something that’s at home,” he told USA TODAY.

When will Victory Cruise Lines relaunch?

Waggoner and his wife, Claudette, who co-owns the company, will host Victory’s first cruise of the year. The 10-night cruise aboard Victory I will sail from Portland, Maine, to Toronto in April ahead of the ship’s christening.

Victory II will be christened in Chicago on May 12.

The ships can accommodate 190 guests.

What can guests expect?

Victory will sail itineraries ranging from nine to 14 nights in 2025. Those include All 5 Great Lakes cruises, which visit Erie, Huron, Michigan, Ontario and Superior, sailing from either Chicago or Milwaukee to Toronto (or departing from Toronto).

The 5 Great Lakes & St. Lawrence Seaway itinerary will sail between Chicago and Montreal, while the Great Lakes & Thunder Bay cruise round trip from Chicago covers two great lakes – Michigan and Superior – and an overnight stay in Michigan’s Mackinac Island, among other sailings.

Stops will include Detroit and Marquette in Michigan; Green Bay, Wisconsin; Port Colborne, Ontario – giving guests access to Niagara Falls – and more. Victory will also be the only cruise line to dock at Chicago’s Navy Pier.

The company offers a variety of excursions along the way, from a visit to the Soo Locks in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, and the Museum Ship Valley Camp, where guests can learn about the area’s history, to a behind-the-scenes tour of Lambeau Field, where the NFL’s Green Bay Packers play.

“And then you hit Cleveland, where you dock right (near) the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame,” Waggoner said. “And then Detroit, where you get to go to the Henry Ford Museum of (American) Innovation.”

The ships also will host a LakeLorian program in partnership with the National Museum of the Great Lakes, offering lectures from historians and naturalists. Other onboard features include three dining concepts, a sundeck and a salon and spa.

Passengers can catch some sun on an open deck.

How much does Victory Cruise Lines cost?

Available cruises start at $4,999 per person, according to Victory’s website. The fares include a pre-night hotel stay, transfers from the hotel to the ship, food and drinks on board, a tour in each port, Wi-Fi and more.

“What I hope (guests) take away is the grandeur and the beauty of the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence Seaway,” Waggoner said.

USA Today

Great Lakes maritime industry
gets backing from Trump Administration

Bartlett Maritime Corporation has plan for submarine repair facility in Lorain

By Heather Chapin [The Morning Journal]
PUBLISHED: April 17, 2025

The company aiming to bring a submarine repair facility to Lorain praised President Donald Trump’s administration for calling for an increased investment in the maritime industry.

“That is exactly the type of message that Ed Bartlett (founder of Bartlett Maritime Corporation) and the city of Lorain has been hoping for,” said Lorain Mayor Jack Bradley.

The White House Executive Order issued April 9, called “Restoring America’s Maritime Dominance,” directs the Secretary of Commerce, in coordination with other cabinet members, to find opportunities to encourage investments in American “maritime prosperity zones,” according to a news release from Bartlett Maritime Corporation.

The order specifically identifies the Great Lakes for inclusion in the effort, which will be part of a Maritime Action Plan developed by the assistant to the president for National Security Affairs, the release stated.

“I’m hoping with the vice president (J.D. Vance) being from Ohio and two new innovative senators (Bernie Moreno and Jon Husted) that we can get this done,” Bradley said.

Bartlett praised the Trump Administration’s call for increasing investment in the maritime industry of the Great Lakes region and welcomed the growing national urgency to build national maritime capacity.

“We appreciate the Administration’s action to restore and expand the shipbuilding industry in the United States and look forward to the growth of Ohio’s role in this important industry,” Bartlett said in the release. “Right here in Northeast Ohio, we have the skilled workforce available, we have significant potential for industrial facility development and we have a proud maritime heritage.”

The corporation received a grant through the Lorain City Port and Finance Authority to train welders to work in the many positions that are expected to open up once the project is finalized.

The Executive Order calls for the maritime prosperity zones to provide “opportunities to incentivize and facilitate domestic and allied investment in United States maritime industries and waterfront communities.”

“The need for greater shipbuilding and ship repair capacity is a national challenge that goes beyond the geographical limits of coastal areas,” Bartlett said. “America can only meet this challenge by making the most of our industrial capabilities nationwide.”

The corporation has been looking at purchasing or leasing land from two entities, Republic Steel and Stein Corporation, which is located next to the steel mill, Bradley said.

Republic Steel has about 400 acres available and Stein has approximately 60, he said.

Corps of Engineers to begin dredging at Holland Harbor

DETROIT — The U.S. Corps of Engineers, Detroit District will start dredging the entrance to Holland Harbor as early as Thursday, April 24 to remove shoaling across the federal channel.

Surveys indicate a shoal formed in the winter months across the entrance to the harbor that could potentially impact commercial dredging if not addressed.

Holland Harbor was scheduled for dredging in the 2025 maintenance work plan to maintain the Congressionally authorized depth of the federal channel.  King Co. Inc., based in Holland, will dredge about 12,400 cubic yards of sediment hydraulically. The project will cost $344,480 out of a three-project contract that also includes Grand Haven and St. Joseph Harbors.

“After finding the shoaling in Holland, we asked the contractor to prioritize the harbor in their spring schedule to keep commercial vessel traffic moving without impact,” said Liz Newell Wilkinson, the operations manager at the Grand Haven Office of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Detroit District. “Our staff works hard to get out early after ice out to survey and identify potential problem areas in the Great Lakes Navigation System.”

Holland Harbor is considered a deep draft commercial harbor with an authorized federal channel depth of 23 feet at the entrance. If ships are unable to draft at their full capability, commercial traffic is forced to take less freight or “light load.” A loss of 4-5 feet in channel depth would result in a loss of about $1.4 to $1.9 million per year to the shipping industry at Holland Harbor due to light loading, according to Corps of Engineers’ Great Lakes – System Analysis of Navigation Depths (GL-SAND).

Dredged sediment will be placed south of Holland Harbor on the nearshore lake bottom 8 to 12 feet deep. The placement allows the beach to be nourished – a replacement of eroded sediment – without the impacts of heavy machinery or pipes onshore. 

The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy previously approved a water quality certification for sediment to be placed in the area with a Section 401 water quality certification.

Dredging is authorized for 24-hours per day operations. The public is asked to adhere to all safety signage, public notices and broadcast warnings to mariners.

The Detroit District, established in 1841, encompasses 3,150 miles of shoreline and 81 harbors and channels joining lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, St. Clair and Erie. In addition, the district boundaries cover projects and regulatory oversight throughout the state of Michigan and portions of Indiana, Wisconsin and Minnesota.

U.S. Corps of Engineers, Detroit District

What to do with steel, grain shipments?
Impact of Trump tariffs piling up in Windsor

WINDSOR, ON – Shipments of steel from eastern Europe and Canadian aluminum is being warehoused rather than forwarded to the U.S. where it faces tariffs. “We’re seeing the impact already,” said Windsor Port Authority CEO/president Steve Salmons.

“The companies are waiting to see what will happen with tariffs rather than pay 25 per cent. It makes it uncompetitive. “Salt isn’t being shipped to the U.S.. It would double in price.”

 Salmons added tariffs have also affected grain shipments out of Windsor. Instead of being sent to Ohio for use to feed livestock, grain is finding new markets in Europe.

 “About 80 per cent of the grain that goes through here, goes to the U.S.,” Salmons said. “It’ll now going elsewhere where there’s no tariffs.

 “Shipping adds some cost, but nowhere near 25 per cent.”

 Salmons said Canada already serves as a transshipping point for the world accessing U.S. markets. Vancouver is the largest port on North America’s west coast and bigger than all but two U.S. ports.

 “All these products will now face a tariff going into the U.S.,” Salmons said. “It will result in fewer products being shipped. We’ve already had a couple shipments of steel cancelled.”

 Salmons said the reduction in steel/aluminum shipments will soon begin to jam up the automotive supply chain. There are already backlogs for aluminum in the U.S., most of which is coming from Canada.

 Steel coils are another key automotive component that flows through the port of Windsor.

 “There’s a domino effect in the supply chain,” Salmons said.

 “The steel coils directed through Windsor get a highly specialized coating at a local treatment plant that’s needed for use in the auto industry.

 “This type of treatment plant (ArcelorMittal Windsor) doesn’t exist in the U.S. There’s no alternate source.”

 Salmons expects to see countries begin to more frequently by-pass the U.S. and ship directly to Canadian markets to distribute their products in this country to avoid incurring tariffs.

 One such company is Swiss chocolate maker Lindt. It moved production for the Canadian market out of the U.S. and now supplies Canada from its European plants.

 Salmon noted the trade war highlights how important the current expansion of the Windsor Port Authority has become. The expansion will give Windsor the capability of handling container vessels and will become operational in 2028.

 “This will open up markets for our local manufacturers and other businesses,” Salmon said. “A lot of them don’t have access to Europe because they can’t ship their products.

 “We have so manufacturing and potential we can tap into once the port is expanded.”

 Though auto tariffs have caused the Windsor Assembly Plant to shut down for two weeks resulting in thousands of layoffs, Windsor-Essex Regional Chamber of Commerce Ryan Donally said the full impact of U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs is still working its way through the local economy.

 “We’re just glad the focus of the ire of his trade war has moved away from Canada and we’re not caught in anything new,” Donally told the Star. “There remains so much uncertainty.

 “The big cloud hanging over us is what is to be determined about auto parts. That’s the biggest concern for Windsor Essex.”

 The Trump administration is targeting May 3 for having a system to track and tariff at 25 per cent all non-U.S. auto parts entering the states. Many of those parts, tools and moulds will have been produced locally and threaten the viability of those suppliers.

We’re not aware of that yet,” said Donally of whether tariffs had resulted in any business closures. “I haven’t heard from our tariffs’ task force of any business closure directly attributed to tariffs.”

 Donally added the biggest challenge for local businesses will be cash flow, especially in the automotive sector. As tools and mould projects are finishing up, he noted new orders and quotes are not back filling the pipeline.

 “The uncertainty has slowed down global manufacturing, especially anything going from Windsor-Essex to the U.S.,” Donally said.

 “The overarching issue is what is happening to the inputs that go into products. That’s the big concern locally when 22 per cent of the community is tied to manufacturing.

 “That is when you’re going to see the trickle-down effects of tariffs.”

 Outside of manufacturing, Donally said small and medium businesses are holding their own.

“Small business, car sales … things are slowing down, but we haven’t been as affected as much as I thought we would be at this point,” Donally said. “It’s a positive.

 Windsor Star

CSL’s Nukumi tests solar panels

MV Nukumi is the first self-unloading bulk carrier in Canada equipped with solar panels.

In partnership with Innovation maritime, UQAR – Université du Québec à Rimouski, Polytechnique Montréal and Nergica – and with support from the Government of Québec – CSL is participating in a project to explore the performance, durability, and technical challenges of installing and operating a solar power station on a bulk carrier in the Gulf and the St. Lawrence River.

To date, solar panels have not been tested in real-world conditions aboard ships operating in this region. The impact of environmental factors, such as harsh winters and ice accumulation, and logistical factors like maintenance requirements, remain largely unstudied.

Running over three years, the project will address this gap by installing a small-scale solar system on the Nukumi. The ship’s hybrid diesel-electric propulsion system, which already delivers fuel savings and reduced noise, make it an ideal candidate for testing renewable energy integration in marine operations.

CSL Group

 Windsor Port, maritime industry fear being torpedoed by U.S. tariffs, fees

 WINDSOR, ON – U.S. President Donald Trump’s desire to revive the American shipbuilding industry threatens to create another vehicle to drive up costs for shipping companies, port authorities and consumers through a cocktail of tariffs, fees and taxes to finance the project, said  CEO Windsor Port Authority CEO/president Steve Salmons.

 “Ultimately, we have to cover those costs,” he told the Star. “Like anything, if the costs in shipping go up, that’s going to be passed along to the consumer.”

 Three new charges alone contained in a new Trump administration proposal aimed at rejuvenating U.S. shipbuilding will add a minimum of over 20 per cent to any non-American cargo entering the U.S.

 The proposal is expected to come under final review in the coming months, with a Maritime Action Plan to be in place within 210 days.

 “It will definitely affect our cost structure,” said Salmons, who noted Canadian port authorities receive no government support unlike their American counterparts. “It squeezes margins.

 In a final draft of Trump’s executive order on ‘Maritime Dominance’ released April 9, the U.S. is proposing to apply its Harbor Maintenance Fee (.125 per cent of cargo value) and related fees to any vessel that lands at any port that transships goods into the U.S.

 In addition, that U.S.-bound cargo will be subject to Trump’s new universal tariffs based on country of origin. A further 10 per cent handling charge will be added at the border by U.S. Customs and Border Patrol to cover any costs incurred in implementing the new plan.

 Tariffs would also be imposed on vessels using Chinese-built ship-to-shore cranes and other cargo-handling equipment.

 The order directs U.S. officials to engage allies within 90 days on aligning counter tariffs and trade policies with China. It furthers holds out the carrot for those nations that such alignment could be a mechanism for addressing land border tariffs.

 Trump has also directed U.S. officials within 90 days to identify ‘the vision, goals challenges and objectives necessary to secure the arctic waterways and enable American prosperity in the face of evolving arctic security challenges and associated risks.’

 However, Salmons said the biggest win was what wasn’t included in the re-drafted order after industry officials pleaded their case at the U.S. Trade Representative public hearings in March.

 Gone for now is a proposal to charge Chinese-built or flagged vessels millions every time they stop in a U.S. port. The proposal would’ve seen possible fees over US$1.5 million per port call.

Much of the Great Lakes shipping fleet in Canada has been built in China in recent years, exposing them to those massive taxes.

“We were successful because both the Canadian and American industries were able to articulate how serious the impact of those fees would have been for Great Lakes shipping,” Salmons said. “You can’t spread such huge fees over as many containers on 25,000-ton ship on the Great Lakes as you can on an ocean-going vessel.

“Still, even on a larger, 10,000-container ocean vessel, those fees would’ve added US$600-$800 per container.”

With Great Lakes ships often making multiple stops on a run, the massive bills would’ve devastated the maritime industry on both sides of the border.

Salmons said the Great Lakes shipping industry is the bulk version of what trucking does in the same region. “We’re moving around the Great Lakes basin by ship the large, bulky items like iron ore, coal, steel, salt and grain,” Salmons said.

Salmons said American shipyards only built five vessels last year, all of them for the U.S. Navy. The U.S. essentially has no commercial shipbuilding industry, he said.

 “There are 3,000 to 4,000 new ships built each year,” Salmons said. “The first slot available to build a commercial ship in the U.S. isn’t for seven years.

 “They don’t have a commercial industry and what they build is three to five times more expensive because they’re doing it for the military.

 “China, South Korea, Malaysia are highly skilled and efficient ship builders, and they build the world’s shipping.

 Windsor Star

Ranger III seeks QMED/oiler

Nearly 20 freighters delayed following ice build-up at Soo Locks

 SAULT STE. MARIE, MI – The American Integrity entered the Poe Lock around 7:30 a.m. Thursday pushing a good amount of ice ahead of it.  As a result, the 1000′ x 105′ freighter was unable to proceed downbound due to the ice putting pressure on the gates.

 Mark Aldrich, Lockmaster at the Soo Locks, told SooLeader the ice was pretty thick so it takes a long time for these thousand-footers to lock through, but they had a plan in place to get traffic moving once again.

 “We use our point-source bubblers, air compressors, boil ice and swing the gates to get the ice moving so we can get the thousand-footer going again,” he said.

 The longest period Aldrich has seen a freighter stuck in the Locks due to ice was around eight hours early in his career.

 There were 11 freighters waiting to lock through upbound from Sault Ste. Marie to DeTour Village, and eight waiting in Whitefish Bay to lock through downbound. Strong winds blew ice from Whitefish Bay down into the area of the locks.

 The American Integrity was cleared to exit the Poe Lock around 11:15 a.m.

 As of Thursday the MacArthur Lock was open for traffic, with Herbert C. Jackson locking up in the early evening.

 Soo Leader

Ranger III seeks QMED/oiler

Coast Guard Detroit: Great Lakes icebreaking season is over

DETROIT – The Coast Guard has announced that the Great Lakes’ icebreaking season has officially ended. Operation Coal Shovel began on Jan. 6 and officially concluded Monday, April 14, due to a lack of ice.

The operation covered the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence Seaway. 14 vessels contributed more than 900 hours of icebreaking assistance and preventative support.

Although most ice has melted, some lingering ice remains, posing potential hazards to recreational vessels. Additionally, rising water temperatures do not eliminate the risk of hypothermia, which can occur within minutes.

Recreational users are advised to assess safety and risk factors carefully before venturing onto the water.

Explore Great Lakes shipwrecks virtually with new 3D models

DETROIT – Some new technology is making it possible to explore the fascinating shipwrecks of Lake Huron without having to brave the frigid waters. The Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary is recreating 3D models of these shipwrecks and sharing them online with the public.

WDIV

View the video report here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dY7bGyD5CUA