The post includes news about the 2024 Great Lakes navigation season. See also 2023-2024 Great Lakes Navigation Season Overview
The Great Lakes experienced its annual maximum ice coverage for the 2023-2024 ice season on January 22, 2024, according to the U.S. National Ice Center (USNIC).
In May, the Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation (GLS) celebrated the grand opening of its new visitor center at the U.S. Eisenhower Lock in Massena, N.Y. The center is expected to draw over 100,000 visitors annually to the Seaway and provide a world class tourist attraction for the North Country region.
The Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway System provides maritime commerce with reliable, efficient, and environmentally friendly cargo movement that supports high-quality jobs in the U.S. and Canada.
Hundreds of ships from all over the world make multiple trips through the St. Lawrence Seaway annually, moving grain, iron ore, coal, steel, stone, and large cargoes such as windmill components.
In May, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Buffalo District and its contractor, Michigan-based Ryba Marine Construction Co., began dredging work in the Cleveland Harbor federal navigation channel. The Buffalo District awarded the $10.8 million dredging contract on March 22 – the largest ever contract award for Cleveland Harbor.
Approximately 250,000 cubic yards of material will be mechanically dredged from the federal navigation channel. Dredging of the harbor is scheduled to continue through November 2024.
In June, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Buffalo District awarded a $6.9 million contract to Michigan-based Great Lakes Dock & Materials LLC 3 for the repair of the Cleveland West Pier. The project is 100% federally funded.
Repairs will encase 1,320 feet of the 1,430-foot pier with a new concrete overlay, held in place with steel sheet pile. Work will begin on the lakeward end of the pier and proceed inward to the harbor. Construction is scheduled to begin in late July 2024 and conclude by August 2025.
Work will be conducted by marine barges along the pier and will utilize portions of the federal navigation channel in the Cuyahoga River. Commercial and recreational marine traffic will not be obstructed, but vessels should exercise caution when navigating near the pier.
The Buffalo District previously repaired 110 feet of the outermost reach of the pier in 1999. This portion will not require additional repairs during the current project.
The Cleveland West Pier was constructed between 1899 and 1901 to delineate the mouth of the Cuyahoga River and is composed of timber cribs filled with stone and capped with concrete.
Repairs to the West Pier ensure Cleveland Harbor’s viability and contributions to the local and national transportation sector and protect the future of some of the area’s best waterfront recreation opportunities.
The pier is a component of Cleveland Harbor, a deep draft commercial harbor which handled 12.4 million tons of cargo, including iron ore (58%), limestone (19%) and salt (9%) in 2021. Waterborne transportation facilitated by the harbor supports $529.6 million in business revenue, 2,244 direct, indirect, and induced jobs, and $163.8 million in labor income to the transportation sector.
In June, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Detroit District, worked with contractors and Michigan Department of Natural Resources to perform dredging of the Manistee Harbor federal navigational channel to remove shoaling preventing deep-drafting commercial traffic.
On April 23, a commercial vessel attempted to enter Manistee Harbor drafting 19 feet but were halted due to conditions. Surveys found the harbor was unable to be passed at that draft. USACE issued a notice to vessel traffic the same day and continues to coordinate closely with the U.S. Coast Guard to maintain safe passage in the area.
The Michigan Department of Natural Resources limits certain activities – including dredging – until after June 15 to protect fish spawning and habitat, as part of a policy popularly known as a “fish window.”
USACE was previously scheduled to maintenance dredge the harbor later in the summer, but quick coordination between staff and the contractor enabled the project to be prioritized with a June start date.
About 33,000 cubic years of sediment will be removed from the harbor under a $581,000 contract with King Company of Holland. Funding for the project will come from the Fiscal Year 2022 President’s Budget (PBUD).
In June, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Detroit District, began a project to dredge sediment from Saugatuck Harbor, Michigan to ensure safe navigation between Lake Michigan and the Kalamazoo River. The two-mile federal channel in Saugatuck is a popular recreational destination and harbor of refuge.
The King Company, of Holland, is contracted to complete the work for $341,000, after completing dredging in Muskegon under the same awarded contract totaling $1.4 million. The channel entrance will be dredged to 16 feet below low water datum. Sand will be placed along the shore for about a mile from the Saugatuck South Pier southward through Oval Beach.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will continue repairing its Duluth southern Vessel Yard Pier with Phase 2 beginning in July. Contract work will include repairing existing south pier and slip headwall structures with steel sheeting and piling, site lighting, storm drainage, shore power improvements, replacement of bollards with helical pile foundations and concrete paving. The contract was awarded for $5.6 million on May 21, 2024.
In June, the Duluth Seaway Port Authority announced that its terminal operations on Rice’s Point had been ranked among the nation’s top performers in the recently released Green Marine 2023 environmental performance report, posting a 3.43 score on Green Marine’s five-point scale. The overall average for port authority participants in 2023 was 3.12.
A record 56 North American ports participated in the evaluation process in 2023, with the Duluth Seaway Port Authority ranking No. 10 in the United States and No. 1 among U.S. Great Lakes ports.
The annual report rates port authority participants in eight categories: air emissions, community impacts, community relations, dry bulk handling and storage, environmental leadership, underwater noise, waste management, spill prevention, and stormwater management.
On June 8th, U.S. Coast Guard personnel responded to the bulk carrier Michipicoten taking on water in Lake Superior.
Coast Guard Sector Northern Great Lakes was contacted via VHF channel 16 at approximately 7 a.m. with a report that the 689-foot bulk carrier Michipicoten was experiencing flooding while transiting southwest of Isle Royale.
Responding to the incident were vessels from the U.S. Coast Guard, Border Patrol, and National Park Service as well as the bulk carrier Edwin H. Gott. M/V Michipicoten (IMO: 5102865) is a Self Discharging Bulk Carrier that sails under the flag of Canada.
On Monday, July 15, Coast Guard Sector Northern Great Lakes, Sault Ste. Marie Fire Department and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers responded to a pollution incident in the St. Marys River near downtown Sault Ste. Marie.
U.S. Coast Guard Sector Northern Great Lakes received a report of an oily sheen drifting down the St. Marys River. Coast Guard Pollution Responders investigated the scene and discovered an oil sheen near the Coast Guard base as well as around the Museum Ship Valley Camp and the George Kemp Marina.
Pollution Responders determined that the pollution consisted of approximately 10 gallons of an unknown oily product. The source of the pollution is under investigation by the Coast Guard.
In September, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources announced a closure of the Cheboygan Lock in order to perform maintenance.
The Cheboygan Lock closure will begin at 5 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 29, with an anticipated reopening date of May 17, 2025.
Located on the Cheboygan River, the Cheboygan Lock provides seasonal access to Michigan’s Inland Waterway for recreational and commercial watercraft up to 16 feet wide and 75 feet long. More than 3,000 watercraft passed through the lock during the 2023 season.
Biennial dredging of the Fairport Harbor federal navigation channel by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers was completed in September. Dredging operations focused on the lake approach channel and the lower Grand River.
Approximately 110,000 cubic yards of material was removed and placed in both the authorized upland and near-shore placement sites under a $3,844,868 contract awarded to New York-based DMYLES, Inc.
On October 31, the Soo Locks Visitor Center closed for the 2024 season. The facility welcomed over 275,000 visitors from May 1 to October 1.
In November, the Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation (GLS) transferred ownership of the Robinson Bay tugboat to the Great Lakes Maritime Academy. Originally built in 1958, the tugboat will serve as a training platform for the Academy’s maritime students.
On November 23rd, M/V Tim S. Dool ran aground on the St. Lawrence River between Morrisburg, Ontario and Massena, New York. Loaded with grain, the 730 foot bulk carrier was headed for Quebec City when it stranded on Crysler Island Shoal.
The vessel stranded outside of the navigation channel, and the St. Lawrence Seaway continued to operate normally while efforts to refloat it were undertaken.
The U.S. Coast Guard, Canadian Coast Guard, the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation, and the National Response Corporation coordinated efforts to complete an underwater survey to assess the feasibility of safely pulling the vessel free without damaging the hull.
Following completion of the the survey, three tugs attempted to pull the M/V Tim S. Dool free on Friday, November 29. Initial efforts to free the vessel were unsuccessful.
On December 16, United coordination group, composed of multiple agencies successfully refloated the ship after part of the wheat cargo was removed to lighten the ship.
In December, the St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation (SLSMC) announced an investment of over $350 million in infrastructure upgrades from April 1, 2024, to March 31, 2027. The investments include more than $170 million in the Montreal to Lake Ontario (MLO) region and $180 million in the Welland Canal region.
In December, installation of the Lake Erie-Niagara River Ice Boom for the 2024-2025 ice season was performed by the New York Power Authority (NYPA) crews. Each winter since 1964, the boom has been installed near the outlet of Lake Erie to reduce the amount of ice entering the Niagara River.
On December 16, 2024, the Soo Locks’ MacArthur Lock closed to conduct seasonal repairs and maintenance. The Poe Lock will remain open until January. 15, 2025, or until commercial traffic ceases, whichever occurs first.
In December, the U.S. Coast Guard, Ninth District announced the completion of Operation Fall Retrieve on the Great Lakes for the 2024 season. Each year, prior to ice season, the Coast Guard undertakes Operation Fall Retrieve. Crews remove floating lighted aids to navigation from Great Lakes waterways and place ice hulls in crucial navigable channels to facilitate commerce between 8 US States and 2 Canadian provinces.
sources: Lake Carriers’ Association, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Detroit District, United States Coast Guard Ninth District, Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation, Duluth Seaway Port Authority, Michigan Department of Natural Resources
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