This is a drill
The U.S. Department of Transportation Maritime Administration conducted a shipboard firefighting school in Duluth in August. Regional fire departments sent 75 firefighters to participate in the training. Interlake Steamship Company made its John Sherwin available for shipboard segments of the instruction. MARAD's specially trained instructors covered particular aspects that responding municipalities need for reacting to shipboard fires, including vessel characteristics, equipment, terminology and hazards.

And, thankfully, so is this
The Minnesota National Guard's 55th Weapons of Mass Destruction Civil Support Team held a terrorism response exercise in July at the Port Authority-owned Clure Public Marine Terminal. The exercise was designed to enhance cooperation for all state, county and federal agencies involved in responding to a terrorist incident. It included National Guard equipment, vehicles and aircraft, as well as personnel donning protective suits.

Peas for peace
Canfornav's Cashin arrived at the Duluth Clure Public Marine Terminal in August for 1,390 metric tons of bagged peas from Idaho destined for West Africa as part of a Public Law 480 Title II Food for Peace shipment. PL 480 is a federal program that sends food aid to developing countries. Title II items are mainly processed and bagged products for humanitarian aid. This was the first PL480 cargo handled by the Port since 1991.

Cruising
The U.S. cruise vessel Grande Mariner, a 183-foot, 100-passenger vessel, made quite a splash in Duluth this August, visiting twice as part of "Lake Superior Grande Tours" offered by American Canadian Caribbean Line (ACCL). During the Grande Mariner's visit, Port Director Adolph Ojard presented a welcome plaque to Captain Roy Keith and Cruise Director Karen Leofanti. Both tours commenced and ended in Charlevoix, Mich. In addition to Duluth's turn-around stop where passengers disembarked and new passengers were taken on, the tours included stops at the Soo Locks, Whitefish Point, Munising, Marquette, Houghton, Isle Royale, Grand Marais and the Apostle Islands. The Grande Mariner as well as the German cruise vessel Columbus are scheduled to visit Duluth in 2004.

Heavy lifters
The heavy-lift vessel Stellanova arrived at Duluth's Clure Public Marine Terminal in July with the final of four shipments of enormous pieces of equipment manufactured in Spain and Italy and destined for deployment in Ft. McMurray, Alberta, for a Syncrude UE-1 oil sands project. Jumbo, Rotterdam, owns the vessel, which is equipped with deck cranes capable of handling heavy loads. Lake Superior Warehousing Co., Inc., assisted with offloading the vessel. Other members of the team and local participants included Charles Keeler, BNSF terminal manager; Adolph Ojard, Port Authority executive director; Neil Hagen, CP Twin Ports Terminal yard manager; Gary Nicholson, Lake Superior Warehousing Co., Inc., president; Ed Clarke, Syncrude UE-1 logistics manager; Charles Hilleren, Guthrie-Hubner, Inc., president; Robert A. Buchanan Jr., A.N. Deringer, Inc., d/b/a Buchanan Customs Brokers & Agency president; Jim Sharrow, Port Authority facilities manager, and Ron Johnson, Port Authority trade development director.