New warehouse receives first shipments
The recently opened $3.8 million, 104,000-square-foot East Warehouse Annex at the Clure Public Marine Terminal received its first product via rail on March 18 in the form of Canadian woodpulp.
The woodpulp will be moved by truck from Duluth to Grand Rapids, Minn., when called for by consignee UPM-Kymmene (Blandin Paper).
Terminal operator Lake Superior Warehousing Co., Inc., also accepted the warehouse's first product via vessel in March, with the Norwegian-flagged Menominee (also the Port's first 2003 oceangoing vessel arrival) bringing German-made specialized three-quarter-inch tongue and groove oriented strand board used for flooring. Terminal tenant Innovative Pine Technologies/Lake States Lumber will disburse the flooring by truck to its Upper Midwest distributors.
Test drive
Port Commissioner Janet Nelson tried out one of three new Yale 11,000-pound forklift trucks displayed at a December board meeting. The trucks replaced three 1979-era vehicles traded away by Clure Public Marine Terminal Operator Lake Superior Warehousing Co., Inc. The Port Authority invested in the trucks as part of a Port Development Assistance Program Grant received through the Minnesota Department of Transportation.
Humphrey Fellows visit
A delegation of 22 Humphrey Institute Fellows from the University of Minnesota visited in April for an overview of Port operations. Port Director Adolph Ojard addressed the group, which was made up of representatives from Egypt, Israel, Tunisia, Philippines, Ecuador, Nigeria, Pakistan, Ghana, Uzbekistan, Niger, Morocco, Russia, Jamaica and Kenya. The fellowship program is designed to bring professionals from developing nations or emerging democracies to the U.S. for a year of academic study.
Grain & Feed
Association
The Minnesota Grain and Feed Association held its 96th annual convention in Duluth during February. Stopping by to visit Port Authority Trade Development Director Ron Johnson (second from right) at the Port Authority's booth were Minnesota Shippers' Association representatives (left to right) Bob Zelenka, executive director; Adam Sobieski, project manager; Craig Damstrom, general manager; and Scott Dubbelde, president. More than 800 people attended the convention.
The season begins
First vessel traffic: Vessel traffic in the Port of Duluth-Superior began on March 23 with the departure of Great Lakes Fleet's Edgar B. Speer. She was one of four Fleet vessels convoyed by the Coast Guard Icebreaker Mackinaw to Two Harbors, Minn., to load iron ore for Gary, Ind. Here the Speer gets a nudge from the tug Kentucky.
Commercial
navigation opens: The Port's Great Lakes commercial
navigation season was kicked off March 29 with the arrival of Canada 
Steamship
Line's Frontenac under the Duluth Aerial Lift Bridge. Davis Helberg,
then still our Port director, greeted Captain John Bentum during a welcoming
ceremony aboard the vessel. The
Frontenac fueled at Murphy Oil USA, Inc.'s, Duluth Marine Terminal
before shifting to Duluth's Hallett Dock No. 5 and Duluth's C. Riess Terminal
to discharge salt. The vessel then moved to Superior's Burlington Northern
Santa Fe taconite facility for iron ore pellets for Hamilton, Ont.
Our
last first: The Norwegian-flagged Menominee marked
the last of the Port's firsts, launching its St. Lawrence Seaway/Great
Lakes navigation season with an April 11 arrival at Duluth's Clure Public
Marine Terminal. Port Director Adolph Ojard welcomed Captain Kai Oestensvik.
The Menominee was carrying German lumber for discharge at Innovative
Pine Technologies/Lake States Lumber's lumber remanufacturing and distribution
facility located at Duluth's Clure Public Marine Terminal. The vessel then
traveled light to Three Rivers, Quebec, for woodpulp destined for northern
Europe. The Menominee also marked last year's first oceangoing vessel
arrival with an April 2 visit to the terminal.
Friends help the Port break out
While the Port of Duluth-Superior is no stranger to icy conditions, this spring we got a little more famililar with ice than usual. Lake Superior had its greatest ice coverage since 1997 and came its closest to freezing over since February 1994. The lake did freeze over in 1978 and 1972, but a string of warmer than usual winters the past four years had kept the lake mostly ice free.
 |
| The Sundew cuts a striking figure. |
Early season vessel traffic was somewhat hampered by the ice conditions, which were compounded by a sustained period of strong northeast winds, but vessels in the Port of Duluth-Superior got by with a little help from their friends, the U.S. Coast Guard Icebreaker Mackinaw and Cutters Morro Bay and Sundew; the Canadian Ice breaker Samuel Risley and the Great Lakes Towing Company's tug Kentucky. Three of the vessels are pictured here.
The Kentucky stirs up some open water. 
