|
Welcome
to Great Lakes Maritime Task Force News
More
that 70 shippers, carriers, port authorities, shipyards,vessel
pilots, longshore labor, shipboard unions and others are
currently members of the Great Lakes Maritime Task Force, an
organization devoted to promoting all aspects of the Great
Lakes shipping industry. This newsletter will depend on
you, the readers, to share stories about your accomplishments
and challenges. Please send your stories, comments, and ideas
to StraderCo@aol.com.
|
|
Web
Site Launched
GLMTF's
Web site was launched on Monday, April 30, 2007. The
address is www.glmtf.org. The Web site includes a
list of members, the Task Force's Policy Statement and
Position Papers, an overview of Great Lakes shipping, and an
in-depth paper on the dredging crisis. The home page
also lists those members of Congress the Task Force has
honored each year, and letters, news releases, and
presentations.
|
|
Shipping
in the News
News
articles
Milwaukee
Journal Sentinel
March 19, "Great Lakes group urges foreign ship
ban"
Milwaukee
Journal Sentinel April
21,"Ban ocean vessels in lakes? Some are floating the idea"
Chesterton
Tribune (IN)
April 23,"Conservation group proposes ban on seagoing ships in
Great Lakes"
Battle
Creek Enquirer (MI) April
25, "Invasive species issues might bring on ocean-freighter
ban on Great Lakes"
Grand
Haven Tribune (MI)April
23, "Conservation group proposes ban on seagoing ships in
Great Lakes" and
Marquette
Mining Journal (MI)
April 24, and others
The
Environment Report April
30, "Call to Close Foreign Shipping" aired on
local radio stations
Associated
Press "Great
Lakes under Siege" about the Michigan ballast law and the
suit by shipping interests opposed to the law appeared
in the Marquette Mining Journal April 21,
and
Southbend
Tribune (IN)
April 22.
USA
Today May
13, "Invasive cargo spawns calls for
regulations"
The
Sault Star
(MI) April 26, "Soo superlock plan gets a lift from
congress"
The
Green Bay Press-Gazette
(WI) April 21,"Lower water levels have ships lightening
loads"
The
Saginaw News
(MI) April 23, "Low water, silt bedevil
freighters"
National
Public Radio April
30, featured
the drop in Lake Superior water levels and its impact on
shipping.
Green
Bay Press-Gazette April
29, "Fish story to hit big screen" on IMAX movie being
filmed featuring stories on shipping and shipwrecks in
the Great Lakes.
Cleveland
Plain Dealer April
22, Cleveland port officials spoke of the opportunity to
capture container-cargo traffic at the port in the future.
Editorials
The
Sheboygan Press (MI)
April 25,"Shipping ban not answer to invasive species in Great
Lakes"
Milwaukee Journal
Sentinel April
29,"Close Seaway? Not yet"
Detroit
Free Press
March 22, Drew Sharp, outdoor writer, supported the ban in a
column
The
Detroit News March
27, "Ballast rules could sink state shipping
industry."
Luedtke
Engineering Company
The
first member profile features Luedtke Engineering Company
based in Frankfort,
Michigan
. The marine contracting firm, founded in 1930,
specializes in hydraulic and mechanical dredging for Federal,
state and private entities. The company works throughout
the Great Lakes. Kurt Luedtke is company President and
Paul Luedtke is Secretary/Treasurer. Because dredging is
the "lifeblood" of the company, the company is concerned about
the continued funding and health of the Corps of Engineers
Operation and Maintenance Program.
|
|
|
Congressman
Dave Camp (R-MI, left) accepts
a framed photograph to commemorate his
selection as
Great
Lakes
Legislator of the Year. Joining him are (left) John
Tanner, Superintendent of Great Lakes Maritime Academy,
Bill Yockey, ILA, and John D. Baker, Jr., Great Lakes
District Council, ILA.
Task
Force Briefs Capitol Hill
GLMTF
held its 12th Annual Informational Briefing
for the Great Lakes Delegation in Washington on May 2,
2007. Attendance was the best yet and included six
members of Congress, as well as many staffers.
Legislators attending in person were Senator Amy
Klobuchar (D-MN) and Representatives Dave Camp (R-MI),
recipient of GLMTF's Great Lakes Legislator
of the Year Award, James L.
Oberstar (D-MN), Marcy Kaptur (D-OH), Vern Ehlers
(R-MI), and Dennis Kucinich (D-OH).
The
keynote address was delivered by Joseph A. Carrabba,
President and Chief Executive Officer of
Cleveland-Cliffs Inc, who focused on the impact of the
dredging crisis on the iron ore trade.
Cleveland-Cliffs is the largest iron ore producer in
North America and Carrabba declared "the dredging crisis
is directly affecting Cliffs' ability to meet its
customers' requirements efficiently." He noted
that on April 6, a 1,000-foot-long U.S.-Flag Laker with
a rated capacity of more than 71,000 tons departed
Superior, Wisconsin, with less than 59,000 tons of
Cliffs' pellets onboard. "Nearly 17 percent of the
vessel's carrying capacity, or 12,000 tons, was negated
by the dredging crisis and low water levels."
Carrabba
called on the Administration "to commit itself to
restoring the Great Lakes navigation system to project
dimensions. The restructured domestic integrated steel
industry is the most efficient in the world.
Productivity at Cliffs' operations is world-class, and
the U.S.-Flag Lakers represent the largest fleet of
self-unloading vessels in the world. Yet all these
advances and advantages are at risk because the U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers does not receive enough money to
maintain the Great Lakes navigation system."
Congressman
Dave Camp (R-MI) pledged his support for increased
funding for dredging in comments offered upon receiving
his award. Rep. James L. Oberstar (D-MN) was even
more adamant that the Lakes must get their fair share of
dredging dollars in the future. He also made clear
the Federal government must pay for the new Poe-sized
lock at Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan.
Congressman
Vern Ehlers (R-MI) spoke about the pressing need to find
a solution to the problem of ballast water introductions
of non-indigenous species.
|
Great
Lakes Dredging
Crisis
For
over two years, the GLMTF has spearheaded efforts to
educate policy makers regarding inadequate maintenance
dredging of Great Lakes harbors by the U.S. Army Corps
of Engineers. The region-wide backlog of dredging
work is now estimated to be roughly $250 million, with
several harbors at near critical conditions. At
the same time that the Great Lakes navigation system is
being starved of maintenance dredging dollars, other
regions of the country are being generously
funded.
Over
the last year, the Task Force has worked to raise the
profile of this issue with our legislators in Washington
and with the Corps of Engineers.
Progress is
being made on two fronts. First, the Corps of
Engineers must give the Great Lakes navigation
system greater priority in its budgeting process.
Toward that end, last December a series of "stakeholder
meetings" was initiated between Task Force members and
the Corps to discuss and define the problem. More
than 50 different Task Force members have been
participating in this process. On May 3,
2007, the Corps' Great Lakes and Ohio River
Division announced a 5-year plan for the elimination of
the Great Lakes dredging backlog. This process
involved a harbor-by-harbor definition of the backlog to
achieve "fully functional" harbors. This plan must
now be sold to Corps Headquarters and to the Office of
Management and Budget in Washington for approval.
On another front, individual ports, dock
operators, shippers, vessel operators and local
officials have been working with their federal
legislators to ensure that the annual Corps funding
legislation contains adequate resources for maintenance
of Great Lakes harbors. While neither the House or
Senate has taken up the Energy and Water Development
Appropriations Bill yet, we should know by this summer
if the Great Lakes Congressional delegation has been
able to improve the Corps' budget and provide additional
funds to begin eliminating the dredging backlog.
Michigan Ballast Law
Challenged
A
number of Great Lakes maritime associations, marine
terminals and vessel operators have mounted a legal
challenge to the State of Michigan's new ballast water
regulations, which took effect on January 1, 2007.
The new Michigan law requires all ocean-going vessels
calling at Michigan ports to obtain a permit from the
State to conduct port operations and pay a permit fee.
The law prohibits the discharge of ballast water from an
ocean-going ship unless it has first been treated by one
of four ballast water treatment technologies specified
by the State. The case is currently being
considered by the Federal District Court for the Eastern
District of Michigan.
Great
Lakes
port and Seaway interests have long opposed state
regulation of ballast water, fearing a patchwork of
inconsistent and conflicting regulatory
requirements.
U.S.-
Flag Fleet Almost at Capacity
Seventy
U.S.-Flag Lakers were in service on May 1, an increase
of five vessels compared to a year ago. The only
U.S.-Flag Lakers yet to see service this year are the
cement carriers J. A. W. Iglehart and Paul H.
Townsend.
The
Interlake Steamship Company Names New
President
Mark
W. Barker was elected President of The Interlake
Steamship Company by the Board of Directors, succeeding
James R. Barker, who will remain Chairman and Chief
Executive Officer. Mark Barker was most recently
Interlake's Vice President and Treasurer. He has
also served as the company's Director of Engineering and
Assistant Vice President. Interlake, with offices in
Richfield, Ohio, operates a fleet of nine
self-unloading, dry-bulk cargo vessels on the Great
Lakes.
Harbor
Prosperity -- Port of Green
Bay
A
new program to raise the profile of the Port of Green
Bay, Harbor Prosperity, was launched in April when
surveys indicated that the average resident did not have
a clear perception of the Port. The Port provides
jobs, worldwide business, recreation and special events
for the region. A new Web site, www.harborprosperity.com, has been
created along with informational billboards and new dock
signage. Dean Haen, Port Manager, will be visiting
area business and civic groups to discuss the impact of
the Port. In addition, curriculum materials have
been developed for fourth and eighth graders.
Toledo
Seaport Director Meets with Assistant Secretary of the
Army
Warren
McCrimmon, Seaport Director, Toledo-Lucas County Port
Authority, and Chairman of the American Delegation to
the American Association of Port Authorities
(AAPA), met with Assistant Secretary of the Army, John
Paul Woodley, Jr. to discuss all the issues related to
the dredging crisis on the Great Lakes. Kurt
Nagle, President of the AAPA, also attended the
meeting. |
|
|
Legislative
News
Soo
Lock Project Advances
On
April 19, the House of Representatives passed its
version of the Water Resources Development Act of 2007
(WRDA). The bill contains a critical provision
that will allow the long-delayed lock project at Sault
St. Marie, Michigan, to move forward. The new lock
was originally authorized by Congress in 1986, but soon
stalled because Congress required that 20 percent of the
project's cost be paid by a non-Federal partner.
The project has also been delayed as the U.S. Army Corps
of Engineers studied and re-studied the project to
determine if the new lock was justified. While on
a strictly tonnage basis, the lock's b/c ratio is less
than 1, the project "is a go" when national defense
considerations are included.
After
20 years of delay, the WRDA legislation eliminates both
of these questions. It directs the Corps to begin
work on the project at full Federal expense. The
Senate passed its version of the WRDA legislation
on May 16. Unfortunately, the Senate did not
include the Soo lock provisions. A
House-Senate conference committee will now hammer
out a final version of the legislation.
(The
WRDA legislation does not actually make funds available,
but rather, sets policy on how funds are to be
spent. The actual funds needed to construct a
second large lock at the Soo will have to be
appropriated by Congress in the future).
Short Sea Shipping
Legislation Advanced in Congress
Legislation
has been introduced in the 110th Congress by Rep.
Stephanie Tubbs Jones (D-OH) and Rep. Phil English
(R-PA) to provide a narrow exemption from the Harbor
Maintenance Tax for certain non-bulk cargo moved between
U.S. ports on the Great Lakes or from a Canadian port to
a U.S. port on the Great Lakes. The "Short Sea
Shipping Enhancement Act" (H.R. 981) is intended to
remove the Harbor Maintenance Tax as an impediment to
the establishment of several new freight ferry services
currently under development in the Great Lakes.
Federal
Ballast Legislation
Introduced
Senator
Carl Levin (D-MI) has introduced comprehensive Federal
legislation to address the introduction of aquatic
nuisance species into U.S. waters, including the Great
Lakes. The Levin bill (S. 725) would establish a
water quality standard for all ballast discharges and
require treatment of ballast water to meet that standard
by the year 2012. The Levin bill would exempt
those vessels that operate exclusively on Lakes
Superior, Huron, Michigan and Erie.
Both
the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee
and the Senate Commerce Committee are expected to soon
introduce their own federal ballast water management
legislation.
|
|
|
|
|