WELLAND CANAL – Nearly 25 million tonnes of cargo passed through the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Seaway System by the end of September, up 3.5 per cent compared to the same time last year. It’s the second positive increase of the 2026 season, which began with March openings of the Welland Canal and Montreal-Lake Ontario sections of the 3,700-kilometre-long waterway.

Latest figures released by St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corp. showed dry bulk shipments were the biggest mover on the seaway, up 20.26 per cent. Dry bulk consists of commodities such as stone/gravel, sand, salt, cement, potash and gypsum.

Snider Dock Services, which operates as Port Colborne Marine Terminal Inc., on the east side of the Welland Canal, handles bulk goods including road salt and synthetic gypsum. It has received several shipments of both commodities this year.

General cargo, which includes iron, steel slabs, machinery and wind turbines, has fallen 10.8 per cent, followed by coal, down 6.47 per cent. Liquid bulk shipments, which include gasoline, diesel, kerosene, jet fuel, ethanol and biodiesel, decreased four per cent compared to the same time last year. Iron ore fell 3.4 per cent, and grain, the top commodity shipped on the seaway last year, was down three per cent.

Ship traffic has increased, with 2,719 vessels, including lakers, ocean-going ships, tugs and barges, transiting the system. That’s 138 more than by the end of September last year.

Dave Johnson/Welland Tribune

DULUTH, MN. – Science lovers got the opportunity of a lifetime on Wednesday. They got to board the Lake Explorer II, a Great Lakes research vessel and learn about their operations up close. The vessel is associated with the Environmental Protection Agency.

“You look around at the beauty behind us, right? Of everybody knows how magical the Great Lakes are,” said Teresa Booeshagi, Associate Administrator, Environmental Protection Agency. “It’s important for us to be able to protect these natural resources and make sure that they sustain into the future for our next generations.”

View the KQDS-TV video report here

MANISTEE, MI – Manistee Harbor Tours will wrap up its 2026 sailing season with special fall color cruises aboard the Princess of Manistee this weekend and next weekend, offering passengers an opportunity to view the autumn scenery along Lake Michigan and the Manistee River. The two-hour cruises are scheduled from 2 to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 24-25, and again Oct. 31 and Nov. 1. These will be the final scheduled cruises of the year for the 65-foot passenger vessel.

Capt. Albert “Wally” Laaksonen, owner of Manistee Harbor Tours, said the cruises will depart from the Manistee City Marina, 426 River St., along the Riverwalk in downtown Manistee. Each excursion will begin with a trip down the Manistee River to the Manistee Harbor Lighthouse, where the captain will evaluate conditions on Lake Michigan before determining the route. Depending on wind and wave conditions, the Princess will travel either north or south along the Lake Michigan shoreline.

Read more here.

SUPERIOR, WI – A big moment for Fraser Industries, which includes Fraser Shipyards, in Superior. On Wednesday, they hosted an event to share they are being sold to Wildcat Equity Partners. Fraser’s CEO Patrick Kelly shared it also means $350 million in investment here.

“For everyone in this room, all of our employees, it means a more secure job, a bigger job, and opportunities under new ownership that comes with that investment and growth. I’m pleased to report as well our current ownership team is staying on. We’re very much part of this plan going forward. We’re gratified to the Wildcat team that they’re actually investing in our blueprint, and we’re excited to see it come to fruition,” Kelly said.

Eric Nicolaides from Wildcat shared this. “Wildcat is acquiring Fraser because we believe its best years can still be ahead of it. We see an experienced workforce, a respected business, and a capability this country needs more of, not less. We want to invest in it, and we want to help it grow.”

Crews at Fraser work on the big lakers that brings the cargo like iron ore down to the steel mills. Right now, the company has the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Spar in the drydock facility.

The company announced in August that they have a Memorandum of Understanding with HD Hyundai out of Korea. Fraser will become a demonstration model for rebuilding the U.S. shipbuilding industry.

They also are part of a landmark partnership between the American Great Lakes Ports Association and the Great Lakes Alliance Shipyards. Fraser has been part of the maritime landscape on Lake Superior for more than 130 years.

WDIO
Read the story here and view a video.

MONROE, MI – When an engine runs quietly, it doesn’t attract much attention. The same goes for economic engines. Take Great Lakes and inland river ports across the United States. They do not draw much national attention, but there is much happening. In fact, Great Lakes and river ports are leveraging their collective essentiality to craft new strategies and build new infrastructure.

There are roughly 12,000 ports, private terminals and other navigation facilities nationwide, according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and possibly many more. Aimee Andres, executive director of the Inland Rivers, Ports and Terminals, Inc. trade group, says there are 93 inland river ports, and 71 Great Lakes ports; although there is no official tally, the number of private terminals in the U.S. “is in the tens of thousands,” Andres says. The American Society of Civil Engineers has called those ports the “hidden backbone of the nation’s freight network.” For example, American Great Lakes ports handle about 140 million tons annually, directly or indirectly supporting about 147,350 jobs. Inland river ports and transportation services employ about 127,500 workers and generate $36 billion in income annually while handling about 500 million tons of cargo, according to a recent study.

“When most people think about maritime, they think about the seaports, but cargo does not stop at those ports of import, and it certainly doesn’t begin at the ports of exports,” Andres says, pointing out that inland ports as well as private terminals are crucial.

There’s room for growth, however, and various Great Lakes and river ports are implementing projects supported by the federal government and others. The highlights, among many others, include a $774- million U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) grant award announced in April 2026, which is funding infrastructure improvements at Baton Rouge, Memphis, and Duluth-Superior, Minnesota, and elsewhere.

Also, industry groups are exploring new ways to increase cargo moving between the Great Lakes and inland rivers. And there is accelerating development of dry ports, meaning inland logistics facilities accessed by rail and trucks and linked to maritime ports, such as those in Greer and Dillon, both in South Carolina, and which are connected directly to the Port of Charleston. Wet or dry, there is much happening.

The Port of Monroe, Michigan, an intermodal port on Lake Erie, is one of the standouts.The port, which already generates roughly $121 million in local income and spending and $38.5 million in federal, state and local tax revenues, is actively creating new opportunities. The port has been implementing a number of projects fueled by federal, state, county and city funding.

Port Director Paul LaMarre, citing the growth in facilities and cargo, says such progress at Monroe makes it “the biggest little port on the Great Lakes, or the little port that can.”

Right now, the port is turning a 12-acre site into the first international border entry point container terminal on the Great Lakes. The terminal, slated to open by 2027, is designed to provide a new gateway to international markets through the St. Lawrence Seaway. The port’s initiatives were boosted by a $15- million U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) grant announced in April 2026 by U.S. Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI), who advocated for the grant award. The award follows on the heels of another DOT grant for $11 million that Monroe’s port received in 2022. Peters says the grant will help “position the port at the cutting edge of Great Lakes shipping. These investments will help strengthen our supply chains, support good-paying jobs and create more economic opportunity for communities across our state.”

Monroe Mayor Robert Clark characterizes the changes at the port in recent years as “a complete transformation” that is bringing “economic and community benefits to the city of Monroe and this region.” The benefits include about 850 local residents, or 75% of the 1,136 people, employed by companies operating on the port, including Gerdau, DTE and Ventower Industries, says LaMarre.

As LaMarre says, “The ultimate success story is when you have created investment, job and tax revenue for the local community.” He adds that “investing in port infrastructure and in the people who support it will pay exponential dividends for communities and for national strength and economic sustainability.”

USA Today

BARBEAU, MI – The Eastern Upper Peninsula Transportation Authority (EUPTA) is advising Neebish Island residents and visitors that the Neebish Islander Ill will be running on a limited schedule, effective immediately.

This is due to an incident Tuesday morning while encountering dense fog conditions. The end result to the vessel damage is a sheared rudder shaft, and the loss of one of its two rudders. The United States Coast Guard has given the Neebish Islander Ill permission to run on one rudder with the following special conditions. To ensure safety while providing vital transportation, the Neebish Islander Ill Ferry will have the following special operating conditions:

Limited schedule: A small number of back-to-back runs in the morning to transport residents off the island, and a corresponding set of evening runs to return them. The morning runs will tentatively begin at 7:30 a.m. and will continue until all traffic is cleared. This is pending there are not any fog or visibility conditions hindering movement. The evening runs will tentatively begin at 6 p.m. and will continue until all traffic is cleared. This is pending there are not any fog or visibility conditions hindering movement.
Vehicle restrictions: Passenger vehicles only, as vehicles will need to back off the ferry boat.
Capacity limit: A maximum of eight vehicles per trip.
No trailers: Trailers will not be permitted.
Weight and size limits: No oversize or excessively heavy loads will be accepted.
Favorable weather only: Operations will be suspended during adverse weather, requiring no or very little fog, good visibility, sustained winds under 20 mph, and gusts under 25 mph.
Daylight hours only: No operations after dark.
Emergency runs: EUPTA has been granted permission to run outside of the above restrictions in the event of emergencies.

All vehicles will need to back off the ferry when unloading. This is a necessity due to running on one rudder. The unusual nature of this unloading will require all customers to travel at their own risk of vehicle damage. The special operating conditions will last approximately two weeks to give EUPTA time to schedule, coordinate, and make repairs. For the most up-to-date information please refer to www.eupta.net/ferry-svstem/eupta-delays-and-cancellations, Neebish Island Ferry Facebook page, delays and cancellations hotline: 906-632-1516.

Soo Today

OWN SOUND, ON – With the 2026 sailing season concluding on October 18, the Owen Sound Transportation Co. (OSTC) is reminding passengers and community members that there will be no public fall repositioning cruise this year. The MS Chi-Cheemaun will sail overnight to Owen Sound, arriving in the harbour early Monday morning, October 19, before the vessel departs later that day for dry dock in Hamilton, Ontario. The scheduled dry dock period supports mandatory inspections and maintenance to help ensure the vessel remains safe and reliable for future sailing seasons. Passengers can visit the ontarioferries.com early next year for information on the 2027 sailing schedule.

Owen Sound Transportation Co.

It’s jiust three weeks away from the 39th Annual Gales of November maritime conference. Find out more here.

David Schauer

 

DETROIT, MI  – On Monday, Oct. 19, Gaelic Tugboat Co.’s newest acquisition, the tug Tralee, formerly the Lauren A., was launched at the company’s dock on the Rouge River in Detroit. Tralee was previously owned by White Lake Dock and Dredge in West Michigan. Tralee replaces the tug Patricia Hoey, which made her final run on October 13. In keeping with the company’s Irish heritage, the tug is named after Tralee, a town on the northern side of the neck of the Dingle Peninsula in Ireland, and is the largest town in County Kerry.

Andrew Severson

The 45^th annual Marine Mart, sponsored by the Great Lakes Maritime Institute, will be held Saturday Oct. 24 from 10 a.m-2 p.m. at the VFW Bruce Post, 284904 Jefferson Ave,. St. Clair Shores, MI. Buy, sell or trade nautical items including models, books, photos, artifacts, ship china, artwork and much more.

Admission is $7 (early bird admission 9:30-10 a.m. ­ $10)

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