He-e-e-e-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-e’s Travis!

Travis the Traveling Container — a St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation (SLSMC) Highway H20 promotional representative of international trade — arrived at the Port of Duluth-Superior via vessel in August. Travis, a 20-foot container, began its journey on 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 traveled to Duluth aboard the BBC India, a modern multi-purpose vessel owned by Germany-based BBC Chartering and Logistic. Travis has Highway H20 themed murals printed on both sides of the box. Along with the Highway H20 container, the vessel was 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., near the Iowa-Minnesota border. Clure Public Marine Terminal operator Lakes Superior Warehousing Co., Inc., offloaded the container and the wind turbine equipment at the Terminal’s Berth No. 1.
Travis is a container that travels the H2O Highway to promote international trade on behalf of the St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation. Here Travis gets a lift while on a stop at the Port of Duluth-Superior.


The Port of Duluth-Superior has seen many wind turbine equipment cargoes, including this Siemen’s project with components that will comprise the largest onshore wind turbines in the world to date. They will be erected at one of several windfarms popping up across the Midwest. “We are also expecting components this fall that will be trucked to the Bismarck, N.D., area, as well as wind turbine bases that will move outbound through the Port by barge to Buffalo,” said Ron Johnson, Duluth Seaway Port Authority trade development director.

After stopping at the Clure Terminal, Travis took an intermodal jaunt via BarOle Trucking, Centerville, Minn., to visit with Midwest Global Trade Association members at their annual golf outing at the Stonebrooke Golf Club in Shakopee, Minn. Association members include companies of all sizes and levels of international experiences, as well as individuals with a range of business interests and perspectives.
Travis the Traveling Container arrived in Duluth-Superior aboard the BBC India along with 4.065 million metric tons of equipment — 180 pieces. The shipment, which originated in Denmark, is part of a Siemens wind turbine project. The blades alone measure 147 feet. They will be part of the world’s largest onshore turbines.

Containers represent an important growth market for the Seaway. As international trade continues to grow, the Seaway expects to see an increase in the movement of containers to and from the East Coast. Compared to surface 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 Highway 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 Johnson. “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 its Minnesota visit, Travis will be transported by vessel to Thunder Bay, with additional stops at all Highway H20 Ports in the system. Highway 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 18 of the largest ports on the St. Lawrence River and the Great Lakes.