March cargo tons on U.S. lakers up from 5-year average

• Edwin H. Gott

The Edwin H. Gott moves through ice and sea smoke in the Duluth harbor shortly after sunrise on Jan. 18. The Gott was the last of the eight operating lakers spending the winter in the Twin Ports to arrive to lay out. (2012 file / News Tribune)

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• Shipping traffic for Monday, April 16

U.S.-flagged lakers carried 2.35 million tons of cargo on the Great Lakes in March. That was a 4 percent decrease from March 2011, but 10 percent more than the month’s five-year average.

Iron ore cargos for the steel industry decreased 14 percent compared to a year ago, but coal loadings held even and limestone cargos more than tripled last March’s volume, according to the Lake Carriers’ Association.

Year-to-date U.S.-flagged cargos total 6.4 million tons, an increase of 8 percent compared to a year ago, and 27 percent more than the five-year average for the first quarter.

On April 1, 40 U.S.-flagged lakers were in service, two more than on the same date last year.

The Lake Carriers’ Association represents 17 American companies that operate 56 U.S.-flagged vessels on the Great Lakes.

Tags: lake superior, business, shipping