Renault at the Port of Monroe

On September 12, 1961, the steamship Vire called on the Port of Monroe. The arrival of the French Line vessel was heralded as “International Day” at Monroe, with over 200 people on hand. 

The event was held to celebrate the new international shipment, Monroe’s first through the St. Lawrence Seaway, but more importantly provide the public with an opportunity to see the facilities.

In June 1961, the Port signed an agreement with Renault-Great Lakes Inc. making Monroe the port of entry for all Renault cars for the Chicago subsidiary of the French automaker. 

This immediately put the Port of Monroe on the map in a way it had never been before. Monroe was a seaport.

The Vire delivered the first shipment, a total of 1,045 automobiles. They were unloaded by cranes of the Monroe Welding Co., and then driven to a fenced area to be amalgamated with other cars. Toledo Overseas Terminals provided the stevedoring services for the operation. Some cars were directly offloaded and others were in crates.

The ceremony was held in a partially completed 100 by 300 warehouse that would be immediately leased to Renault upon completion. Monroe mayor L. A. Frost presented Vire captain Jacques Thibaud with a key to the city. He was also gifted with a La-Z-Boy chair by Edward Knabusch. Special Monroe Shock Absorber plaques were distributed to the captain, Hon. Alian Chaillou, French Consul, and Vincent Grob, Vice President and General Manager of Renault, by William D. McIntyre, Vice President and General Manager of Monroe Auto Equipment Company.

Of the 60,000 automobiles that Renault planned to export to the United States in 1962, 10,000 was to be routed through Monroe and distributed to nine different states. 7 to 10 trucks would leave the Port daily carrying six cars each to distributors. More cars were coming in by rail that had been imported through coastal ports. In 1964, Renault renewed its lease at Monroe for another three years. 

Renault was the top import brand in the US for a brief time, but imports began to slump in the late 1960s. By 1970 they fully withdrew from the U. S. market- conditions outside of Monroe’s control.

How did Renault end up at Monroe?

The year before Monroe’s service started, French Line vessels loaded with Renault Dauphines were forced to turn around in the Atlantic Ocean due to massive overcongestion at docks in New York City. Perhaps it was this, combined with the opening of the St. Lawrence Seaway that made Renault take a hard look at the Great Lakes.

Renault officials stated that Monroe was selected over Detroit and Toledo because it had the greatest potential to expand the facilities Renault required for the operation.

Michigan Maritime Gateway

Fast forward to the present day. For more than ten years, the Port of Monroe has advocated for a modern container service that will benefit Michigan cargo owners. We’re building that infrastructure now- the Michigan Maritime Gateway will be the first container inspection facility of its kind in the State of Michigan, screening 100% of international containers.

In the future, it won’t be Renault automobiles inbound but perhaps Michigan-assembled cars outbound. And we proved we can do that.

In 2014, in partnership with Green Shipping Line, CFR-Rinken, and other stakeholders, the Port of Monroe demonstrated that Ford Mustangs could be efficiently containerized at Monroe. That pilot was successful but limited in its success because the Port of Monroe was not cleared to export the containers on the water. Having a container inspection facility changes that.

In November 2016, a Spliethoff vessel loaded 130 empty containers at Monroe that had been consolidated from around the region during the season, the largest single volume handled by any port except for Cleveland.

We look forward to the opening of the Michigan Maritime Gateway and establishing Monroe as a maritime container capable port, but we used to be. We have to change our way of thinking. This used to be how we did everything. Factors worked against the Great Lakes but perhaps there are others working in our favor today.

Renault saw Monroe’s potential in 1961. In 2025, we sit at an even greater moment of potential — this time backed by container-handling infrastructure that can redefine Michigan’s role in global trade. The question is the same now as it was then: who will recognize that potential, and act on it?

Who will recognize that same potential?

Written by Samuel C. Hankinson, Port Development Coordinator

The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) is awarding a $1 million Brownfield Redevelopment Grant to a project that will improve the Port of Monroe, allowing it to take in more cargo and be better prepared for emergencies.

The port opened in 1940 and expanded operations over time.  It is currently lacking infrastructure needed to handle international containerized cargo.

The current $16 million redevelopment plan calls for three major improvements:

• Construction of a second wharf to handle and inspect larger international cargo under U.S. Department of Homeland Security and Customs and Border Protection policies.

• Construction of a readiness slip for the port’s tugboat and for emergency boats used by the U.S. Coast Guard, Customs and Border Protection, and the city of Monroe.

• Improvements to the turning basin, a large area where freighters can turn around and where the port receives liquid asphalt.

The second wharf and the turning basin improvements will require dredging, which is where the EGLE grant comes into play. Sediment is contaminated with metals left over from more than 100 years of heavy industrial activity along the River Raisin. Grant money will be used to help cover the cost of properly transporting and disposing of contaminated sediment.

Additional project funding is coming from the U.S. Department of Transportation, the State of Michigan, and the Monroe County Brownfield Redevelopment Authority. The improvements will make the Port of Monroe the first maritime container terminal in Michigan. A study of the previous improvement project completed at the port in 2017 found that it spurred more than $6 million in economic activity in the first year and the creation of more than 700 jobs. The port’s owner believes the new project’s impact will meet or exceed that of the 2017 work. Grant-funded work is expected to be finished by the fall of 2026.

More than half of EGLE’s annual budget supports local projects, protects public health and the environment, and helps create economic growth and jobs for Michigan workers. Redevelopment increases the value of brownfield sites and other nearby properties. In 2024 EGLE awarded $25.1 million in brownfield incentives to 87 projects around Michigan.

Power projects can’t wait for logistics to catch up—and at the Port of Monroe, they don’t have to.

In August 2023, BigLift’s heavy‑lift vessel Happy Ranger delivered a 370‑ton Royal Smit transformer from Antwerp and set it straight onto a specialized HLI 20‑axle Schnabel railcar at our turning‑basin dock. The transformer was bound for the Fermi II nuclear power plant north of the Port. This cargo evolution proved that even the heaviest, most time‑critical grid equipment can move effortlessly through the Port of Monroe via the Great Lakes/St. Lawrence Seaway system.

Building on that blueprint, Monroe is now primed to handle the next generation of grid‑resilience cargo—utility‑scale Battery Energy Storage Systems, modular substations, and whatever tomorrow’s energy transition demands. The same assets that made our transformer move seamless make us a natural gateway for containerized battery enclosures and other high‑value grid components.

• Our heavy‑lift rail spur brings Class‑I rail right to our turning basin dock. The Port is dual-served by CN and NS rail.

• I‑75 highway corridors for last‑mile delivery

Looking ahead—capacity built for the future

• Turning Basin rehabilitation & Ro‑Ro extension will add a concrete cap, restored seawall, and dedicated ramp for oversized cargo.

• Michigan Maritime Gateway (opening 2026) will be the state’s first CBP‑compliant 100% scanning facility, streamlining international project cargo clearances.

With proven heavy‑lift credentials and new infrastructure coming online, the Port of Monroe is ready to be your trusted partner for transformer moves, BESS deployments, and every component that strengthens the grid.

By John Hartig

Historically, the prevailing thinking was that society could have either a healthy economy or healthy biodiversity, but not both. But over time many businesses have proven this wrong. Michigan’s Port of Monroe is one, showing how a thriving maritime industry can go hand-in-hand with exceptional biodiversity.

Nestled on the banks of the River Raisin in Monroe, Michigan is the Port of Monroe — what mariners affectionately call the “Biggest Little Port” on the Great Lakes. However, this St. Lawrence Seaway System node not only welcomes limestone, synthetic gypsum, natural gas pipeline sections, steel coils, wind energy components and containers, but it also welcomes wildlife.

The port is 35 miles south of Detroit, Michigan and 17 miles north of Toledo, Ohio. It is Michigan’s only port on Lake Erie and is the gateway to the state’s far-reaching multimodal transportation network.

In 2023, the port received about 2.5 million tons of cargo. The port can transfer cargo between rail, truck or vessel. In 2023, the port received $16 million in state and federal grants to build a terminal that will allow the port to handle container shipments, the most common and efficient shipment method for goods. This will make Port of Monroe the first container terminal in Michigan when it comes online in 2025, making it one of the most state-of-the-art ports on the Great Lakes.

The Great Lakes Seaway Partnership has documented that the Port of Monroe and its maritime commerce support: 1,659 jobs, $96 million in economic activity, $121.1 million in personal income and local consumption expenditures and $38.5 million in federal and state tax revenue.

Port of Monroe is also getting a reputation for its exceptional wildlife

Western Lake Erie and the Port of Monroe are situated at the intersection of the Atlantic and Mississippi flyways. The flyways are ideal for migrating birds because they provide food, water and shelter. The Port of Monroe happens to be surrounded by approximately 1,742 acres of conservation lands — Sterling State Park, Ford March Unit of the Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge, and wetland and prairie habitats that are part of the Monroe Power Plant — and the waters of western Lake Erie.

Lake Erie has been recognized for its biodiversity in the North American Waterfowl Management Plan (one of 67 areas of continental significance to North American ducks, geese and swans), the Canada-U.S. Lake Erie Lakewide Management Plan, and the Lake Erie Biodiversity Conservation Strategy produced by The Nature Conservancy. It has been identified as a priority area for waterfowl conservation by Ducks Unlimited.

Western Lake Erie and the lower River Raisin are a magnet for waterfowl because they provide stopover habitats where birds rest, refuel and find shelter during their migration between breeding and wintering areas. Such sites are critical for bird survival, as migration is the most dangerous part of their life cycle.

“More than 300,000 diving ducks like canvasbacks, bluebills, redheads and mergansers migrate through the area each year,” said Richard Micka, a lifelong outdoorsman and member of the River Raisin Public Advisory Committee and the International Wildlife Refuge Alliance. “We also have dabbling ducks that do not dive beneath the surface, including blue-winged and green-winged teal, pintails, black ducks and mallards. It should be no surprise that this area has long been a birding and waterfowl-hunting mecca.”

To help support osprey recovery efforts, the Port of Monroe worked with DTE Energy to relocate an active osprey nest at the port and then constructed two osprey platforms on its property. These platforms provide nesting habitat and have been successful in attracting this “species of special concern” in Michigan.

Osprey nest at Port of Monroe (credit: Port of Monroe).

The Port of Monroe also welcomes many other avian visitors. For example, Caspian tern, a threatened species in Michigan, has been a regular visitor to the port that inspires a sense of wonder in both port workers and deckhands from visiting ships.

Caspian terns (black head and orange beak) visiting the Port of Monroe (credit: Port of Monroe).

Lake Erie has the highest biological diversity and fish production of all the Great Lakes, and as a result, one of the largest freshwater fisheries in the world. Located at the mouth of the River Raisin is the 3,279-megawatt Monroe Power Plant owned by DTE Energy with Wildlife Habitat Council-certified habitats. This plant is literally in the shadow of the port. The thermal discharge from the plant prevents the water from always freezing in the winter and attracts large numbers of fish from Lake Erie’s world-class fishery. This, in turn, attracts fish-eating bald eagles — often more than 100.

The interest in seeing so many bald eagles in one place has led to an annual bald eagle tour sponsored by DTE Energy and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge. These tours have been held on power plant property for 14 consecutive years. Interest in seeing our National Symbol is so great that individuals have to be selected by lottery.

Bald eagles roosting at the Monroe Power Plant, 2017 (credit: Jake Bonello).

“We have seen up to 200 bald eagles while we are breaking ice with a tugboat at the port in winter,” said Paul LaMarre, director of the Port of Monroe. “It often feels like we are in a wildlife sanctuary, instead of a maritime port. This is something I wish more people could experience.”

Bald eagle off Port of Monroe (credit: Port of Monroe).

Not only is the Port of Monroe growing its operations and maritime economy, but it is also a partner in cleaning up the River Raisin Area of Concern and stewarding its natural resources.

“The Port of Monroe is a shining example that industry and environment can coexist,” said LaMarre. “The synergy of community, wildlife, and commercial waterway is at the heart of what we as a public port are striving to protect.”

John Hartig is a board member at the Detroit Riverfront Conservancy. He serves as a Visiting Scholar at the University of Windsor’s Great Lakes Institute for Environmental Research and has written numerous books and publications on the environment and the Great Lakes. Hartig also helped create the Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge, where he worked for 14 years as the refuge manager.

The Port of Monroe’s Turning Basin dock was the site of two unique transloads in the last week.

First, the Port and DRM Terminal Management completed the roll-off of two specialized heavy-haul trailers. The tug Ecosse delivered the barge from Windsor, Ontario in a unique cross-border transfer.

The Port and DRM partnered with McKeil Marine Limited, Buckingham Trucking, and GWS Forwarding to efficiently and safely roll-off the trailers. The operation was the first of its kind to take place at Monroe, and the Port/DRM are excited to provide roll-on roll-off services for both domestic and international cargo operations in the future.

The second operation involved the transfer of a 390-ton generator stator from a barge to a specialized rail car.

The stator was delivered from Schenectady, New York to Oswego New York via the NYS Canal system and barged to Monroe by the Ashton Marine tug Meredith Ashton.

A specialized crane was erected at the Port by Barnhart Crane & Rigging and Maxim Crane.

The stator is the same piece that was imported through the Port onboard the heavy-lift vessel Happy Ranger in 2019 and exported from the Port in 2022 for reconditioning. The Port has now been the site of three transfers involving the same component, with each operation being unique.

The Port was proud to work alongside HLI, Barnhart Crane & Rigging, Ceres Barge, Ashton Marine, Canadian National Railway, Mid American Group, Maxim Crane, GE Vernova, Ashton Marine, Fracht, DTE, and other partners in the handling of the stator.

The Port’s turning basin dock dates back to the original construction of the Port which took place in the 1930s and 1940s. The current turning basin rail spur was built in 2019 and allows components like the stator to be transferred directly from ship to rail.

Future RORO and heavy-lift operations at the turning basin dock will be enhanced by new infrastructure.

As part of the Port’s Lake Erie Renewable Energy Resilience Project, the turning basin dock will be fully rehabilitated, including a new concrete cap and construction of a seawall which collapsed in 2022. The project was funded by the U. S. Department of Transportation through the Port Infrastructure Development Program in 2022. It is the largest funding award received in the Port’s history.