Soo Locks open for the new shipping season
UPDATE
Sault Ste Marie, MI –The Soo Locks opened right on schedule Saturday at 8 a.m. with the upbound passage through the Poe Lock of the Clyde S. VanEnkevort/Erie Trader. The viewing platform at the locks was full of visitors celebrating the day as the sun rose behind the tug/barge combo, which is bound for Duluth, MN, to load taconite pellets.
Next to lock up will be fleetmates Dirk S. VanEnkevort/Michigan Trader and Joyce. L VanEnkevort/Great Lakes Trader. Later in the day, Capt. Henry Jackman is expected to lock up headed to Thunder Bay. Algoma Bear is also in Lake Huron headed for Two Harbors.
ORIGINAL REPORT
Three vessels from the VanEnkevort Tug & Barge Inc. fleet arrived at the Soo Locks Thursday, led by the tug/barge combo Clyde S. VanEnkevort/Erie Trader.
The pair tied up at the lower pier in the early afternoon, after which Capt. Eric Sawyer and the crew of the Clyde S. VanEnkevort/Erie Trader welcomed representatives of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the City of Sault Ste. Marie, the Soo Locks Visitor Center Association and the media.
Clyde S. VanEnkevort/Erie Trader will lock up at 8 a.m. Friday when the Soo Locks officially open for the new shipping season.
Crewmembers each received a First Ship baseball cap from the Soo Locks Visitor Center Association, and a mayoral proclamation welcoming the first ship of the season was read. A box of 2025 Know Your Ships books was presented to the crew by publisher Roger LeLievre, who is also a Soo Locks Visitor Center Association board member.
The locks have been closed since Jan. 16 to allow the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers a chance to complete maintenance, something they do annually for about 10 weeks during the winter. During this time, ships are unable to carry cargo between Lake Superior and the other Great Lakes.
Cleveland Cliffs to lay off more than
600 miners on Iron Range
Iron Range, Minn. – More than 600 Cleveland Cliffs employees on the Iron Range are facing layoffs amid news that the company plans to idle both Hibbing Taconite (Hibtac) and the Minorca Mine in Virginia. Cleveland Cliffs’ leaders are blaming the decision on excess pellet inventory due to a drop in the demand for steel.
Minorca Mine will be completely shutting down, laying off nearly all employees, while Hibtac will shrink operations with about half its employees.
United Steel Workers Local 2705 union representative Chris Johnson said it’s a scary and uncertain time for many. “I think it’s every emotion you can think,” said Johnson. ”They have families, they have mortgages, they have whatever gamut of payments they have, and so, yeah, you’re going to get some unemployment, but that’s not going to last forever.”
According to Cleveland Cliffs, the idles are temporary, but there’s no date for when or if employees will return to work.
On top of larger economic factors and the decreased demand for cars, Johnson says those at Hibtac are facing extra uncertainty as the mine is experiencing reserve challenges.“Are these people gonna be called back, or is this what Hibbing Taconite is gonna look like in the future?” said Johnson.
Regardless, he says the layoffs will be devastating. “It’s more the benefits that we have, the pay we get,” said Johnson. “These people count on that. They live their lives by that, and it’s gonna be life changing for some people.”
Johnson added that while Cleveland Cliffs might move some employees to other Minnesota mines, they won’t be able to absorb everyone being laid off. Layoffs at this scale haven’t happened in the Iron Range since 2009 with the exception of those during COVID.
Northern News Now
Enter Duluth’s 42nd Annual First Ship Contest
Birds chirping. Snow thawing. Groundhogs emerging. There are many signs of spring across the country. In Duluth, it’s when the season’s first oceangoing vessel, known as a “saltie,” enters the city’s harbor. Begone ice! The ships are coming in.
To celebrate the occasion, the Duluth Seaway Port Authority and Visit Duluth are partnering for the 42nd Annual First Ship Contest. Correctly guess when the season’s first saltie sails into our seaport and you could win an epic prize package of Duluth goods and experiences. The second-place winner will also receive a prize package.
Here’s the link: https://visitduluth.com/first-ship/
2025 “Know Your Ships” launches
The new shipping season is at hand, and so is the release of the 2025 edition of Know Your Ships, the popular annual field guide to boats and boatwatching on the Great Lakes & St. Lawrence Seaway, now in its 66th year.
Preorders are now being taken. As usual, standard and spiral bindings are available. Preorders will be the first to mail out when the book arrives from the printer around March 23.
New this year is the ability to preorder the midsummer EXTRA magazine, which will feature a 50th anniversary tribute to the Edmund Fitzgerald and her crew, when you preorder the book.
To mark the opening of the Soo Locks, Editor & Publisher Roger LeLievre will be at the Soo Locks Visitor Center Saturday, March 26, from 11 a.m.-3 p.m., to sign copies of the new edition. Buy them right from him, or from Das Gift Haus and Island Books and Crafts in the Soo, bring them to the Visitor Center and he will sign them.
Preorder at this link: www.knowyourships.com
