IMMEDIATE RELEASE             August 1, 2006

NOTE TO EDITORS AND INTERESTED PARTIES: A press event welcoming the arrival of the "Travis the Traveling Container" is tentatively scheduled to begin at 12:30 PM on Wednesday, August 2, 2006, at the Duluth Seaway Port Authority’s Clure Public Marine Terminal Berth No. 1, 1200 Port Terminal Drive, Duluth, MN. The event is open to the public--check in at the administration building reception to pick up a press pass for the event. Please feel free to call the Port Authority to confirm event details at 218-727-8525.

Duluth, Minn., U.S.A.--Travis the Traveling Container--a St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation (SLSMC) Hwy H20 representative of international trade--will arrive at the Port of Duluth-Superior via the Duluth Aerial Lift Bridge at approximately 10 a.m. tomorrow (August 2).

The 20-foot container was transported July 19 from the Port of Aarhus, Denmark, to the Great Lakes' largest and furthest inland port--Duluth-Superior--as part of an effort by the Duluth Seaway Port Authority and the SLSMC to promote international trade and container shipping on the Great Lakes/St. Lawrence Seaway.

Travis is traveling aboard the BBC India, a modern multi-purpose vessel owned by Germany-based BBC Chartering and Logistic. Travis has Hwy H20 themed murals printed on both sides of the box. Along with the Hwy H20 container, the vessel is carrying a dimensional cargo of Siemens wind turbine equipment, including components for a large crane being used to erect the equipment destined for Mower County, Minn. Clure Public Marine Terminal operator Lake Superior Warehousing Co., Inc., will offload the container and the wind turbine equipment at the Terminal’s Berth No. 1.

Containers represent an important growth market for the Seaway. As international trade continues to intensify, the Seaway expects to see an increase in the movement of containers to and from the East Coast. Compared to surfaces modes of transportation that have experienced various levels of congestion and delays, the St. Lawrence Seaway has the capacity to significantly grow its cargo volumes. The Hwy H20 traveling container initiative will assist in drawing attention to the ability of the Great Lakes/St. Lawrence Seaway System to move containers efficiently and reliably, directly to and from the heartland of North America.

“Compared with other transport modes, waterborne commerce is the most cost-efficient form, and it generates the least air, ground and water contamination, energy consumption, waste product, industry-related accidents, urban congestion, noise and societal disruption,” said Ron Johnson, Duluth Seaway Port Authority trade development director.

“One Seaway ship carrying a million bushels of grain is equivalent to a 3.4-mile unit train, or 1,250 trucks—bumper to bumper--for 14.2 miles,” said Johnson.

After arriving at the Port of Duluth, Travis will be transported by vessel or intermodal connections to all Hwy H20 Ports in the System. Hwy H20 is an alliance of marine mode stakeholders actively promoting the advantages of marine transportation in the Great Lakes/St. Lawrence Seaway System and includes eighteen of the largest ports on the St. Lawrence River and the Great Lakes.

CONTACT: Jennie Richardson, SLSMC, phone 905-641-1932, Ext. 5438, www.hwyh20.com

More Press Releases, 2006