Oil sands extractors
The Dutch vessel Daniella paid a call in December with equipment destined for Fort McMurray, north of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Once there, it will be used for an oil sands extraction project. The heavy-lift vessel owned by Jumbo, a company in the Netherlands, brought 14 crates and high-pressure vessels weighing 193.4 metric tons (right). The large piece was built in Japan, while the other cargo was loaded in South Korea. All cargo was discharged at the Port Terminal to railroad cars.

Specializing in winter traffic
This laker is wintering across the harbor from the rest of the vessels, in the backyard of the South Pier Inn adjacent to Duluth's Ship Canal. Come spring, she'll simply become part of Lake Superior itself.

News from the season's end
The Port's last ocean vessel of the season, the Gibraltar-flagged Ostkap, departed December 17 from Duluth's AGP Grain Limited with about 6,800 metric tons of wheat destined for Northern Europe. The Montreal-Lake Ontario section of the St. Lawrence Seaway saw its last vessel traffic December 30, and the Welland Canal closed December 31.

The Port's final outbound cargo vessel of the season downbound through the Soo Locks was Burns Harbor Inc.'s Stewart J. Cort on January 14 from Superior's Burlington Northern Santa Fe docks with about 55,000 tons of iron ore for Burns Harbor, Ind. The Soo Locks officially closed to vessel traffic at midnight on January 15.

The Port's last outbound cargo for an in-lake destination was marked on January 17, with the departure of Interlake Steamship Company's James R. Barker from Superior's Midwest Energy Resources Company with about 58,000 tons of coal for Presque Isle, Mich.

The Port's last vessel traffic occurred January 22 — with the arrival of Key Lakes Inc./GLF's John G. Munson at Duluth's Clure Public Marine Terminal for winter layup.

Her arrival brought the number of vessels wintering in the Port to 11. The complete list is displayed in the table below.

Winter Layup

The Ostkap, leaving on December 17, was the last ocean vessel in Duluth-Superior in 2004.
 

New logo
The Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway in January adopted a new corporate and rail subsidiary logo (above) and a new name for its rail subsidiary—BNSF Railway Company. "The change reflects our growth and our contributions to the global transportation network," said John P. Lanigan Jr., company executive vice president and chief marketing officer. The new name and logo eventually will appear on locomotives and other rolling stock.

Curious cargo transfer
When Canadian Steamship's Atlantic Huron paid a January call to the Port for a load of iron ore destined for Nanticoke, Ont., she didn't have to travel to the Duluth Missabe & Iron Range Railway's taconite facility to get it.

Instead she journeyed the lesser distance to Duluth's Clure Public Marine Terminal, where her sister vessel, the Rt. Hon. Paul J. Martin, was berthed, and the Martin's cargo of iron ore was transferred to the Huron.

The Martin then returned to the DM&IR to load again for Nanticoke.

The Huron was scheduled for winter layup at Thunder Bay, and needed time to unload her cargo and then transit the Soo Locks at Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., before they closed at midnight on January 15.

The Martin wintered south of the Soo.