News

U.S. Wind Energy and Construction Supported by Great Lakes Seaway Shipping with Large Increases in Project Cargo During May

The St. Lawrence Seaway, North America’s binational marine highway connecting the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes, reported overall gains in project cargo, agriculture and iron ore. These notable increases, specifically in project cargo, indicate that shippers view the Great Lakes Seaway system as way to ship to America’s heartland faster and more efficiently. Year-to-date (YTD) total cargo shipments for the period from the opening of the navigation season on March 22, 2019 through May 31, 2019 were 8.27 million metric tons (mt).

Top Performing Cargoes for May 2019 YTD:

Cargo Metric Tons Handled Growth YOY*
Grain 2,329,000 mt 3.6 percent*
Iron Ore 1,542,000 mt 8.1 percent*
Salt 621,000 mt 62.1 percent*
Liquid Chemicals 178,000 mt 9.9 percent*
Ores & Concentrates 70,000 mt 20.5 percent*

*Percentage indicates year-over-year (YOY) rounded to nearest tenth

 

Craig H. Middlebrook, Deputy Administrator of the U.S. Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation said, “Tonnage moving on the Seaway is running at about the same level as this time last year.  Shipments of project cargo are particularly noteworthy, and a number of U.S. Great Lakes ports are reporting an outlook for continued movement of these high value cargoes such as windmill components, cranes, and heavy machinery.”

The U.S. Great Lakes ports of Milwaukee, Monroe, Duluth-Superior, Indiana and Toledo showed strong activity congruent with overall Seaway growth, especially in project cargo — large, heavy, high value, or complex pieces of equipment, like windmills.

 

Great Lakes Seaway: Project Cargo Hub

BigLift Happy River delivering a load of wind energy cargo to the Duluth Cargo Connect facilities in May 2019

Anchored by domestic trade, the Port of Duluth-Superior operates as a global gateway for bulk cargo entering the system. “After a slow start in March due to ice, the pace picked up considerably in April and May. Overall tonnage for the Port of Duluth-Superior increased 9 percent over April 2018,” said Jayson Hron, Duluth Seaway Port Authority’s Director of Communications and Marketing.

 “We also welcomed the first of numerous wind energy cargo shipments scheduled to arrive throughout the summer,” said Hron. The Port of Duluth-Superior is expecting at least 15 shipments to their Duluth Cargo Connect facilities in 2019. So far, they’ve welcomed two, both carrying towers, with a third, carrying blades, scheduled to arrive soon.

Iron ore, petroleum products and dry bulk led the way for an 8 percent tonnage increase compared to May 2018 for the Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority. “So far this year, we’ve had more “salties” calling on Toledo than any year since 2006,” said Joseph Cappel, VP of Business Development for the Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority. A combination of grain, salt, pig iron and other bulk products along with project cargo for the Cleveland Cliffs HBI Facility already have accounted for 14 ocean vessel calls in Toledo this year.

Port Milwaukee has seen a 220% increase in project cargo. “Port Milwaukee has maintained its momentum through the early part of the international shipping season on the Great Lakes,” Municipal Port Director Adam Schlicht said. “Overall tonnage via the Port’s commercial tenants is up 10% compared to this time last year. Total cargo via Milwaukee Harbor remains sturdy, averaging a 2% increase in overall economic activity when compared to May 2018.”

Port Milwaukee’s ship-to-rail supply chain initiatives have already taken almost 500 trucks off of Wisconsin’s roads in 2018 and its leadership is optimistic about tonnage for the rest of the navigation season. Inbound steel, cement, and salt traffic will most likely lead the way.

 

Salt Shipments on the Great Lakes Seaway

M/V PAUL R. TREGURTHA, M/V GAGLIARDA and the Barge DELAWARE and Tug CALUSA COAST unloading at Port of Monroe’s docks. Photo Credit: Paul C. LaMarre III

“The Port of Monroe has had a strong start to the 2019 shipping season,” says Paul LaMarre, Port Director at Port of Monroe. Port of Monroe continues to move interlake cargoes such as coal, limestone, synthetic gypsum, bottom ash and others at a consistent pace. “We were also pleased to welcome our first international vessel of the season in late May, the newly acquired M/V GAGLIARDA.”

For the first time in the Port of Monroe’s history, three vessels unloaded at the same time on three separate docks. The “Queen of the Lakes”, the M/V PAUL R. TREGURTHA, unloaded at DTE’s Monroe Powerplant, the M/V GAGLIARDA unloaded Egyptian salt at the Port’s Riverfront Dock, and the Barge DELAWARE and Tug CALUSA COAST unloaded liquid asphalt at the Port’s Turning Basin Dock.

Ports of Indiana report an overall YTD 7.2 percent increase, noting one significant project cargo shipment — rubber-tire gantry cranes bound for a CSX container yard in Illinois.

“Ports of Indiana continue to support economic growth in Indiana and throughout the Great Lakes region with an excellent start. We continue to grow, as has been seen the past four years, with increases in salt, export grain shipments, limestone and coal,” said Vanta E. Coda II, Chief Executive Officer for Ports of Indiana.

 

 

HC MELINA unloading at Port of Indiana-Burns Harbor

 

Source: The Great Lakes Seaway Partnership

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LaMarre Named to Federal Maritime Panel

 

Port of Monroe Director Paul C. LaMarre III has been appointed to the Maritime Transportation System National Advisory Committee.

 

The two-year appointment was made by Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao last month.

The panel provides advice and recommendations to the secretary of transportation on matters relating to the U. S. maritime transportation and its integration into other aspects of the country’s transportation system.

It’s composed of up to 30 leaders from commercial transportation firms, port and water stakeholders, labor, and federal, state and local public entities.

LaMarre, who has been port director since July, 2012, was supported in the appointment by U.S. Rep. Tim Walberg, R-Tipton, and U. S. Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich.

“Given Paul’s extensive work experience and military background, he is extremely well qualified and understands the complex issues surrounding maritime transportation,” said Walberg.

“The Great Lakes maritime industry is an important driver of good-paying jobs and economic growth, and I look forward to continuing to work with Paul to advocate for our state and region,” he said.

Peters, too, praised LaMarre.

“From his service as a U.S. Navy pilot to his superb management of the Port of Monroe, Paul LaMarre is a distinguished representative of Michigan’s rich maritime heritage,” said Peters.

″(He will be) a key voice on the federal level for the Great Lakes’ ports and waterways,” he said.

LaMarre called the appointment “a humbling honor.”

He praised both lawmakers’ support of Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway system shipping and its maritime industry

He called their work “priceless to us.”

LaMarre called the Great Lakes sustainability “industrially and environmentally at the foundation of the Port of Monroe’s continued growth and resilience.”

 

SOURCE: The Monroe News

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Peters Applauds Appointment of Monroe Port Director to Key Federal Maritime Transportation Committee

U.S. Senator Gary Peters (MI) today applauded the Department of Transportation’s decision to appoint Director of the Port of Monroe Paul LaMarre to the U.S. Marine and Transportation System National Advisory Committee (MTSNAC) for a term of two years. Last year, Peters supported LaMarre’s application, writing a letter to the Department of Transportation.

“From his service as a U.S. Navy pilot to his superb management of the Port of Monroe, Paul LaMarre is a distinguished representative of Michigan’s rich maritime heritage,” said Senator Peters. “I was proud to support his application, and I believe that he will not only be a tremendous asset to the Marine and Transportation System National Advisory Committee, but also a key voice on the federal level for the Great Lakes’ ports and waterways.”

“Receiving Senator Peters’ nomination to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Transportation System National Advisory Committee (MTSNAC) and subsequent appointment by Secretary Elaine L. Chao is truly a humbling honor,” said LaMarre. “Senator Peters’ unrelenting support of the Great Lakes maritime industry is indisputable and his support for the opportunity to advocate for the broader interests of the Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway system as a whole is priceless. The Senator’s ongoing efforts to ensure the Great Lakes are sustainable both industrially and environmentally are at the foundation of the Port of Monroe’s continued growth and resilience.”

MTSNAC was commissioned by the Department of Transportation to identify issues and develop solutions to various impediments to effective management of short sea transportation. The Committee works directly with the Secretary of Transportation on various issues relating to maritime transportation, and to ensure that our waterways are seamless integrated within the nation’s larger transportation system.

 

Source: The Great Lakes Seaway Partnership

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Port of Monroe

Shipping Milestone: Cargo Diversity Up Across Docks

The Port of Monroe is celebrating another milestone year.

This time it comes in the form of cargo diversity.

“The port is as vibrant as it ever has been despite rapid changes in cargo transportation,” port Director Paul C. LaMarre III said. “Cargo diversity across our docks is up.”

Despite some challenges early in 2018, the port continues to thrive. This shipping season saw the opening of the riverfront intermodal dock. The dock, a $3.6 million investment, saw its first ship in April. The Huron Spirit brought a load of steel coils for the automotive industry.

“We had an agreement to handle loads of steel coils, but only got that one shipment because of the steel tariffs,” LaMarre explained. “Effectively that business evaporated overnight.”

But LaMarre did not get discouraged.

“We are a nimble organization,” he said. “We adapt to change.”

LaMarre forged a deal with the Great Lakes Towing Co. and Great Lakes Shipyard to establish towing and shipyard services at the port.

As part of the partnership, Great Lakes Towing relocated the tug Wisconsin to the port to help with ship assistance. The tug is the oldest commercially operating tug boat in the world. It was built in 1897 in Buffalo, N.Y., by the Union Dry Dock Co.

International shipping returned to the port after a nearly two-year battle. International cargo was not able to call upon the port based on issues not related to the port.

Earlier this year, the U.S. government intervened and reopened international shipping to the Port of Monroe and the Port of Toledo.

During the 2014 shipping season, the port set tonnage records and nearly set another one the following season. LaMarre said this year the tonnage figures will be down, but the port’s diversification of cargo is up.

“ We continue to move a wide variety of cargo through the port,” he said. “ We are moving more gypsum on the dock and by rail.”

The port also is handling all the bottom ash from DTE Energy’s Monroe Power Plant, along with components for wind towers and natural gas pipeline sections.

LaMarre said this year the port’s season will continue through the winter due to a new development related to liquid asphalt.

The M/V Iver Bright, owned by Varoon, a company in the Netherlands, began calling on the port recently. The Iver Bright is an asphalt tanker that recently made its first voyage from Montreal to Monroe.

“The single voyage qualified the port for its fourth Seaway Pacesetter Award in six years,” LaMarre said.

The vessel is unique, La-Marre said, because it was built in 2012 and is an ice class vessel, meaning it can operate year-long.

“It will likely call upon the port all year, primarily between Sarnia, Ontario and Monroe,”

“When you couple our cargo activity with our industry leadership, it is evident that the port … continues to be seen as one of the most impactful ports on the Great Lakes,” LaMarre said. “It can also call upon Detroit and Toledo.”

The director anticipates this new aspect to the business will drive up the port’s tonnage in the coming year.

“It’s a significant boost during what is typically the slowest time of the year for the port,” LaMarre said.

Though many said it is LaMarre’s leadership that has driven the growth and success of the port, he credits the port’s business partners and DRM. That success will continue into 2019, he said.

“ When you couple our cargo activity with our industry leadership, it is evident that the port, though not large in tonnage, continues to be seen as one of the most impactful ports on the Great Lakes.”

The port wants the community to be involved in its operations. It launched a new website, www. portofmonroe.com, and a Facebook page where it shares its activity.

 

SOURCE: Monroe Evening News

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The Monroe News – Port of Monroe dubbed ‘biggest little port’

A recent economic study detailed the impact of Michigan’s only shipping port on Lake Erie.

Source: The Monroe News
Written By: Danielle Portteus, Staaff Reporter

The Port of Monroe was responsible for more than $96 million in economic activity in 2017, a recent report states.

The Great Lakes Seaway Partnership released “Economic Impacts of the Port of Monroe,” a report documenting the contributions the port has made on shipping, the City of Monroe and Great Lakes region.

According to the study, the port and maritime commerce supported 1,659 jobs and $121.1 million in personal income and local consumption expenditures. Additionally, it was responsible for $38.5 million in federal and state tax revenue.

“The Port of Monroe represents the closest convergence of major freight assets anywhere in the region with deepdraft frontage on the River Raisin, direct rail Class 1 rail access, and immediate access to I-75,” said Paul C. LaMarre III, port director. “As Michigan’s only port on Lake Erie, the Port of Monroe serves as the gateway to the State of Michigan’s far reaching multimodal transportation network and this report highlights the significant economic impact that the ‘Biggest Little Port’ has on our region.”

LaMarre said the report is evidence that multimodal commerce is vital to the economic prosperity of our region.

“At the Port of Monroe, we proudly support the mariner and Great Lakes region,” he said.

Of those more than 1,600 jobs, 751 were directly generated by marine cargo and vessel activity at the marine terminals, the report said.

 

By the Numbers

  • Economic impacts of the Port of Monroe:
  • Direct jobs: 751
  • Induced jobs: 574
  • Indirect jobs: 334
  • Total jobs: 1,659
  • Economic activity in dollars: $96 million
  • Personal income and local consumption expenditures in dollars: $121.1 million
  • Federal and state tax revenue: $38.5 million

 

As a result of the local and regional purchases by those individuals holding the direct jobs, an additional 574 induced jobs were supported in the regional economy.

More than 330 indirect jobs were supported by $39.7 million of regional purchases by businesses supplying services at the marine terminals at the port.

“In 2017, the direct business revenue received by the firms directly dependent upon the cargo handled at the port was $28.3 million,” the report said. “These firms provide maritime services and inland transportation services for the cargo handled at the marine terminals and the vessels calling at the terminals.”

Throughout the state, maritime commerce generated $4.1 billion in economic activity in 2017 along supporting more than 25,000 jobs, the report said.

During the year, about 59 million metric tons of cargo was handled at the ports. Of that, 1,782,479.77 metric tons came through the Port of Monroe.

“The study reflects the important contributions Port of Monroe provides to the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Region,” said Steven A. Fisher, Executive Director of the American Great Lakes Ports Association. “The jobs supported by the maritime industry include not only those located directly on the waterfront — shipyard workers, stevedores, vessel operators, terminal employees, truck drivers and marine pilots — but also grain farmers, construction workers, miners and steelworkers. Many of these jobs would vanish if not for a dynamic maritime industry.”

In the United States and Canada, maritime commerce supported nearly 240,000 jobs and generated $35 billion in economic activity.

“This report validates what we’ve long known — that the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Seaway is crucial to the U.S. economy,” said Craig H. Middlebook, Deputy Administrator of the U.S. Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation “This binational waterway not only provides a multitude of well-paying jobs — on land and at sea — it offers a cost-effective, safe and fuel-efficient means of moving goods to and from domestic and global markets.”

The Great Lakes- St. Lawrence Seaway (comprised of the five Great Lakes — Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie and Ontario — their connecting channels and the St. Lawrence River) is the industrial and agricultural heartland of the U.S. and Canada, with a combined Gross Domestic Product

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Port of Monroe Economic Impacts Study Results Released – Supports Over 1,659 Jobs & Contributes $96 Million in Economic Activity

Washington, DC (September 5, 2018) – The Great Lakes Seaway Partnership announces the release of Economic Impacts of the Port of Monroe, a report documenting the many contributions made by the Port and Great Lakes Seaway Shipping to the City of Monroe, Monroe County, State of Michigan and Great Lakes region.

The study reports that in 2017 the Port of Monroe and maritime commerce supported:

  • 1,659 jobs
  • $96 million in economic activity
  • $121.1 million in personal income and local consumption expenditures
  • $38.5 million in federal and state tax revenue

“The Port of Monroe represents the closest convergence of major freight assets anywhere in the region with deep-draft frontage on the River Raisin, direct rail Class 1 rail access, and immediate access to I-75. As Michigan’s only port on Lake Erie, the Port of Monroe serves as the gateway to the State of Michigan’s far reaching multimodal transportation network and this report highlights the significant economic impact that the ‘Biggest Little Port’ has on our region,” says Paul C. LaMarre III, Director, Port of Monroe. “This report is evidence that multimodal commerce is vital to the economic prosperity of our region. At the Port of Monroe, we proudly support the mariner and Great Lakes region.”

“The study reflects the important contributions the Port of Monroe provides to the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Region,” says Steven A. Fisher, Executive Director of the American Great Lakes Ports Association. “The jobs supported by the maritime industry include not only those located directly on the waterfront – shipyard workers, stevedores, vessel operators, terminal employees, truck drivers and marine pilots – but also grain farmers, construction works, miners and steelworkers. Many of these jobs would vanish if not for a dynamic maritime industry.”

The Economic Impacts of Port of Monroe full report can be downloaded at www.greatlakesseaway.org/economy.

 

 

The Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Seaway Navigation System

Economic Impacts of the Port of Monroe is a companion report to the broader Great Lakes-St. Lawrence study titled Economic Impacts of Maritime Shipping in the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Region, a year-long study of the economic impacts of the entire Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Seaway navigation system.

The study reports that in 2017 in Michigan, maritime commerce supported:

  • $4.1 billion in economic activity
  • 25,910 jobs
  • 59 million metric tons of cargo handled
  • $1.7 billion in personal income and local consumption expenditures
  • $763.2 million in federal, state & local taxes

The study reports that in 2017 in the United States and Canada, maritime commerce supported:

  • 237,868 jobs
  • $35 billion in economic activity
  • $14.2 billion in personal income and local consumption expenditures
  • $6.6 billion in federal, state/provincial and local tax revenue

The Economic Impacts of Maritime Shipping in the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Region Executive Summary and full report can be downloaded at http://greatlakesseaway.org/economy.

* The Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Seaway System includes impacts of domestic and international cargo that has travelled at some point through the Great Lakes, its connecting rivers and the St. Lawrence Seaway (ending at St. Lambert Lock in Montreal). It excludes Quebec commerce that moves exclusively between Canadian ports on the lower St. Lawrence River, as well as commerce between these Canadian lower St. Lawrence River ports and overseas ports.

 

About the Port of Monroe

The Port of Monroe is Michigan’s only port on Lake Erie and serves as the gateway to the State of Michigan’s far reaching multimodal transportation network. Located on the deep-draft frontage of the River Raisin, with direct rail Class 1 rail access, and immediately adjacent to I-75, the Port of Monroe represents the closest convergence of major freight assets anywhere in the region. This accessibility coupled with efficient cargo handling, economic freight rates and a highly accommodating Port management team have earned us the reputation of being the “Mariner’s Port” to our customers and “The Biggest Little Port” on the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway System.

For more information, please visit www.portofmonroe.com.

 

About the Great Lakes Seaway Partnership

The Great Lakes Seaway Partnership is a coalition of leading US and Canadian maritime organizations working to enhance public understanding of the benefits of commercial shipping in the Great Lakes Seaway region of North America. The organization manages an education-focused communications program, sponsors research and works closely with media, policy makers, community groups, allied industries, environmental stakeholders and the general public to highlight the positive attributes of marine transportation.

For more information, please visit www.greatlakesseaway.org.

 

About the Economic Impacts Study

The Economic Impacts of Maritime Shipping in the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Region, which uses 2017 data, was conducted by economic consultants Martin Associates of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, a global leader in transportation economic analysis and strategic planning. Martin Associates was retained to perform this analysis by a coalition of U.S. and Canadian Great Lakes and St. Lawrence marine industry stakeholders, including: Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation, the St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation, the American Great Lakes Ports Association, the Chamber of Marine Commerce, the Lake Carriers Association, and the Shipping Federation of Canada. The analysis was developed from comprehensive interviews with more than 750 individual firms with 1,105 operations throughout the region. The report provides the navigation community, transportation planners, government policy makers and the general public with an assessment of the economic impacts of the entire Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Seaway navigation system.

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Great Lakes Seaway Review – Keeping it nimble and simple

Port of Monroe builds efficient, cost-effective transportation hub through public-private partnerships

Source: Great Lakes Seaway Review
Written By: Janenne Irene Pung

Port building is happening, with cargo up about 40 percent from 2016 to 2017, and the 2018 increase in overall tonnage expected to range between 30 to 40 percent.

The first port in the Great Lakes to be accepted into the U.S. Customs and Border Protection program (CBP). The first port in Michigan to receive state funding for commercial dock improvements. The first and only Great Lakes public agency to take over managing and marketing cargo.

These are a few of the results Michigan’s Port of Monroe is experiencing from efforts to build a port from nearly the ground up. For 30 years, the port was run by a public commission. There was no director and much of the port’s 600 acres was leased for non-cargo purposes. Dredging had been insufficient and the dock wall was in disrepair.

It all began to change when Paul LaMarre III was hired as Port Director in 2012. He set about “reclaiming land in the wild west.” With regional support, he began an aggressive approach to improving port infrastructure and boosting cargo through innovative public-private partnerships (P3). “Since hiring Paul, the port has be- come an operational asset important to industry. We had drifted away from what a true port operation is,” said City of Monroe Mayor Robert Clark. “His leadership and experience has gotten us to where we are today, which is evidenced by our getting the Pacesetter Award three of the last five years.”

The Robert J. Lewis Pacesetter Awards are given by the Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation to U.S. ports registering increases in international cargo tonnage. During the 2018 presentation in July, Deputy Administrator Craig Middlebrook made the following points:

The Port of Monroe saw a 123 percent increase in international cargo tonnage moving through the Montreal-Lake Ontario section of the Seaway compared to the 2016 season. Highlighting their activities last season, the port paired with Spliethoff Lines, handling the majority of components for Michigan’s largest construction project in 2017—the Arauco Fiberboard Plant in Grayling, Michigan.

The port also constructed a new Riverfront Dock with $4 million in state funding, adding to its capabilities.

“I know we will continue to see big things happening at Monroe,” Middlebrook said when presenting the award.

Recruiting and investing. When LaMarre joined the city-run port, he knew he needed to build a team to make the level of impact he planned. Grassroots efforts began with inspiring city and county officials. He enlisted a seasoned entrepreneur, Tony Gray, as his terminal operator. At nearly 70, Gray continues as President of DRM Management and keeps step with LaMarre’s relentless march forward.

 

Monroe County and the Port of Monroe sit in the epicenter of a growing logistics cluster made up of Southeast Michigan, Northwest Ohio and Southwest Ontario.

 

“When I sat down with Paul and listened to his vision, I saw the fit,” said Gray, who admits he enjoys a challenge. “When seeing our ability to grow this business, I wondered how many people get an opportunity to develop a port. I saw it as a chance to build something long-term for my employees.”

Through creative negotiations that could extend 30 years, DRM began investing in the port. It helped finance dredging, partnered in negotiations with DTE Energy to maximize the partnership, created more laydown space, constructed an indoor storage facility and purchased the big equipment needed for oversized and heavy-haul cargo, like the wind turbine components and a natural gas pipeline.

Over five years, DRM’s investments are approaching $4 million. “It sounds like a lot of money, but it goes quickly,” Gray said, noting how the indoor storage building represents a quarter of the investment. As money is spent, contracts are won and expenditures recovered. Port building is happening, with cargo up about 40 percent from 2016 to 2017, and the 2018 increase in overall tonnage expected to range between 30 to 40 percent.

“As one project leaves, another comes through the door,” Gray said. “We’ve been very lucky.” Ideas become contracts. One area of gain serves as an example of P3 innovation. When renegotiating the contract with DTE Energy, LaMarre reclaimed 60 crucial acres along the water and assumed management and marketing of the coal plant’s byproduct, synthetic gypsum.

 

 

The acreage is now valuable, dockside laydown space. The synthetic gypsum is a sulfate material created as scrubbers clean the plant’s exhaust from burning coal to provide power for the region. The byproduct is a harmless compound used to make building products, such as drywall, cement and plaster. For years, the utility had been paying a trucking company to
haul the gypsum to a wallboard company.

LaMarre now moves up to 600,000 tons of gypsum annually across the docks, much of it being barged to Port Colborne, Ontario. It is then sold to companies like USG, Georgia Pacific and LaFarge to create building materials. More recently, the port has added the plant’s fly ash to a similar agreement, creating a market and moving an additional 80,000 tons a year. According to Port of Monroe Commission Chair Dale Bose, this is exactly what the commission values about the port’s approach to business development—a commitment to working with local companies on win-win solutions.

While the deal may sound like it was wrapped up with a good idea and a conversation, it began with LaMarre commissioning a study with the University of Michigan, renegotiating a contract that reclaimed lakefront property, drumming up customers and passing the opportunity to the DRM team to create efficiencies in moving a sticky substance with nearly 8 percent moisture. With practice and the use of hoppers and rib belts, the team is loading the Pere Marquette in about four-and-a-half hours.
Growing companies. Like the area industries, DRM is partnering with the port in building its future, keeping 35 employees busy at the port. In addition to waterborne commerce, the terminal operator oversees rail and road cargo movements (see page 37 for the port’s intermodal amenities). And with two reach stackers and conveyor systems onsite, purchased to win contracts that have come and gone, the team is equipped for more containers, wind turbines and nearly any type of bulk and breakbulk.

“The community and the commercial industry always recognized we had road transportation with I-75 and the rails that go through the City of Monroe, but they didn’t always recognize how close it was to our waterborne transportation,” said City of Monroe Mayor Robert Clark. “They didn’t take advantage of it. Now, it’s clearly recognized.”

“Monroe County and the Port of Monroe sit in the epicenter of a growing logistics cluster made up of Southeast Michigan, Northwest Ohio and Southwest Ontario. That said, logistics-centered businesses, along with advanced manufacturing and agricultural processing, are target industries for the county in our attraction efforts,” said Tim Lake, President &
CEO of the Monroe County Business Development Corporation. “Being able to market water, rail and road—the three main modes of freight movement—is highly beneficial to the county. Even when a company may not require direct port access, knowing it’s available close by assists us in landing a project.”

“The port went from being a liability to an asset,” Brose said. Partnering with CBP. Last season, the port began contracted shipments of containers coming from Europe. An official interpretation of how containers are classified for inspection disrupted the service.

 

Monroe is also developing an International Maritime Container Operation.

The contract involved components for constructing the $400 million Arauco Manufacturing facility in Grayling, Michigan. While the port staged the inbound domestic and international marine shipments, some of the cargo had to be diverted to Cleveland for customs clearance. Through discussions and meetings, LaMarre was determined to find a resolution—a critical step in being able to build the port’s cargo base. He and the commission envision the port as a gateway for international traffic, a market being targeted for business.

As a result, he applied for and became the first port in the Great Lakes accepted into the CBP Reimbursable Service Program. He joins the ranks of companies like DuPont, The Home Depot, Jacksonville Port Authority and Royal Caribbean Cruises, which are among the selectees.

The program is designed to help customers receive the services they need amid record increases in passenger and cargo volumes, which are outpacing CBP personnel. The shortage is causing cargo backups. The program creates a partnership between CBP, private sector and government entities, allowing CBP to provide additional inspection services upon stakeholders’ requests. Those seeking services essentially pay for them above their tax base, covering the salaries and expenses of up to five full-time officers.

“In the first three years of the program, CBP has entered into over 60 agreements, providing more than 368,000 additional processing hours at the request of our partners—accounting for the processing of more than 8 million travelers and over 1.1 million personal and commercial vehicles,” according to CBP. In outlining its needs, the Port of Monroe cited CBP’s clearance of various inbound and outbound international bulk and breakbulk cargoes. Those cargoes include the synthetic gypsum and fly ash from DTE Energy and salt crossing the docks.

Monroe is also developing an International Maritime Container Operation. With completion of a $5.4 million public investment in the dock, the port plans to introduce regularly scheduled liner service(s), similar to what’s in place in Cleveland, Ohio. The Monroe team is already providing office space for a representative of Spliethoff, the European based company moving scheduled cargo through the Cleveland-Europe Express.

“The project is identified by the State of Michigan and U.S. Department of Transportation as a critical step in creating a premier Great Lakes cargo transportation center at the Port of Monroe,” LaMarre said.

The Port of Monroe proposes to ship and receive cargoes in traditional six-sided steel containers and various forms of breakbulk. The service will build on what’s happening in Cleveland, providing Spliethoff with another port option to move the boxed exports of regional companies. Because of draft, 150 40-foot containers can be moved per ship every other week, with the potential of becoming a weekly service.

CBP staff would travel the 35 miles from the Detroit Customs and Border Protection Marine Office to provide the inspections, according to LaMarre. The port would issue a request for services two hours prior to vessel discharge and continue for two hours after discharge. The service would also be needed for loading.

“There are more cargo opportunities out there,” LaMarre said. “It’s just a matter of identifying them.” Tug service and
ship repairs. Over the summer, the port entered into an exclusive partnership with The Great Lakes Towing Company in Cleveland
to serve as home base for the Wisconsin, the oldest active tug on the Great Lakes. The partnership also includes the towing company’s affiliate, Great Lakes Shipyard, moving a floating drydock to Monroe.The agreement is expected to allow for more responsive and efficient harbor assists, icebreaking and outside towing of cargo projects. Having a tug onsite will also lower costs.

As a result, the towing company hopes to gain marketshare. The Wisconsin was reassigned from the Port of Milwaukee, which had a three-tug grouping. She is now part of the Detroit-Toledo group operating for The Great Lakes Towing Company and her crew will rotate within that coverage area.

The change, at this time, does not require hiring additional crew or accruing extra expenses for the company that operates 30 tugs in 11 Great Lakes ports. “It’s a tight river and it makes sense,” said Joe Starck, President of The Great Lakes Towing Company and Great Lakes Shipyard.

The floating drydock—with its 300-ton capacity—is undergoing some upkeep before being moved to the port by tugs. It has been out of the water and not being used since the company purchased its 770-ton marine travelift. While the drydock will only service smaller boats, like research vessels, ferries and dinner boats, the partnership brings skilled ship repair people to the port to offer fabrication and repair for a variety of vessels. The port will seek winter layups of lakers and have the partnership in place for any work they may need.

As a deepwater port with 3,000 linear feet of improved dock space, extensive laydown area and centralized location on the Great Lakes, this new collaboration capitalizes upon strategic positioning, an underserved regional market and longstanding industry partnerships, according to the towing company.

“The goal for winter season is to get at least one major layup project,” Starck said, noting the company will initially send workers from Cleveland to work in Monroe until the business can support local employees. “We are going to grow our business as Monroe is a growth port. Paul has done an amazing job building the tonnage through that port and this is an opportunity for us to be part of that.”

“The team assembled here in Monroe is as compatible a public service team as I’ve seen in action,” Brose said, who worked in community development through MSU Extension for decades. “Paul is a natural at connecting and reacting. He’s intuitive to the commission’s needs and preferences. This has been the perfect storm in terms of bringing the right people together at the right time.”

With long hours and relentless speed, LaMarre considers his situation a privilege. He is supporting the region he calls home and the industry he loves. People are as important as the bottom line. Partnerships are a way of life. He is involved locally and at state and federal levels on behalf of the port and the Great Lakes/ Seaway shipping industry.

“I am here for the sustainability of the Great Lakes/Seaway system for the long haul,” he said.

in News / Press

Port of Monroe Receives 2017 Season ‘Pacesetter Award’ – Honored for Significant Growth in International Tonnage

Washington, D.C. (August 3, 2018) – The Port of Monroe achieved a 123 percent growth in international tonnage in their 2017 Navigation Season on Wednesday July 25, 2018. For this, the port was honored with the Robert J. Lewis Pacesetter Award from the Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation (SLSDC), an agency of the U.S. Department of Transportation.

Craig H. Middlebrook, Deputy Administrator of the SLSDC, presented the award to the Port of Monroe board of directors. The Port of Monroe was one of only six ports to receive the Pacesetter Award for the 2017 season.

Port of Monroe

“The Port has constructed a new river front dock with $4 million of State funding.” Middlebrook commended the work of the Port of Monroe and their director, Paul C. LaMarre III. “This is your third Pacesetter award – and I’m sure it won’t be the last due to your dedication and continued efforts for the City of Monroe, State of Michigan and maritime community.”

SLSDC Pacesetter Award

Pictured Left to Right: Paul C. LaMarre III, Director, Port of Monroe; Dr. Arthur Sulzer, Founder, Maritime Academy Charter High School of Philadelphia & Advisory Board Member, Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation; Craig H. Middlebrook, Deputy Administrator, Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation.

Established in 1992, the SLSDC Pacesetter Award recognizes U.S. ports who have registered increases in international cargo tonnage shipped through their ports and through the St. Lawrence Seaway. Over the past 25 years, the SLSDC has distributed more than 140 Pacesetter Awards to 14 different Great Lakes/Seaway ports.

About the Great Lakes Seaway Partnership
The Great Lakes Seaway Partnership is a coalition of leading US and Canadian maritime organizations working to enhance public understanding of the benefits of commercial shipping in the Great Lakes Seaway region of North America. The organization manages an education-focused communications program, sponsors research and works closely with media, policy makers, community groups, allied industries, environmental stakeholders and the general public to highlight the positive attributes of marine transportation.

 

The Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Seaway System is a marine highway that extends 2,300 miles from the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes. Approximately 143.5 million metric tons of cargo is moved across the System on an annual basis, supporting more than 237,868 jobs and $35 billion in economic activity.

 

For more information, please visit http://www.greatlakesseaway.org.

in Press Release