Port of Monroe celebrates successful 2022-23 shipping season
The 2022-23 shipping season was another successful season for the Port of Monroe. Along with terminal operator DRM Terminal Services, the Port welcomed new ships to its docks and celebrated new cargo evolutions during the shipping season while setting the stage for growth in 2023 and beyond.
Highlights
The Port undertook a large wind energy project that saw 90 wind tower sections manufactured in Monroe by partner Ventower Industries exported to Oswego, New York. This is just the latest renewable energy project the Port has completed with its stakeholders, previously handling and staging components destined for the Isabella Wind Project in Isabella County in 2020 and facilitating the export of Ventower wind towers to Peru in 2019.
A new Manitowoc crawler crane, purchased with funds from the Marine Highway grant program, was put into service. The Port is an active Marine Highway on route M-90 and continues to seek new short-sea-shipping opportunities.
In partnership with Gerdau and the Interlake Steamship Company, the Port realized an all-marine route for special bar quality (SBQ) steel manufactured at Gerdau’s facility in Monroe to the twin ports of Duluth, MN/Superior, WI. A trial shipment was loaded on Interlake’s Paul R. Tregurtha in August using the Port’s new crawler crane, demonstrating the feasibility of moving the cargo by vessel. Subsequent cargoes were loaded on the new Mark W. Barker. Over the past decade, Gerdau has invested nearly $400 million to transform the Monroe mill into a world class SBQ production facility and recently announced an additional $40.4 million investment at the Monroe mill to upgrade the facility’s rolling mill capabilities.
Additionally, the Port introduced a new alternate logo featuring the Port’s “flagship” tug Georgia of the Great Lakes Towing Co. Built in 1897, the Georgia celebrated her 125th year of continuous service as the oldest commercially operated tugboat in the world. The Georgia also became fully compliant with the U.S. Coast Guard’s Subchapter M requirements making her the oldest vessel in compliance.
Tonnage
A total of 2,513,890 tons were received at the Port’s facilities and docks along the River Raisin during the 2022 shipping season. This represents a 10 percent increase in tonnage when compared to the previous season.
The DTE Monroe Power Plant received 1,753,772 short tons of coal and petroleum coke, as well as 246,745 tons of limestone.
The Port handled a total of 121,235 tons of bulk, a 3 percent increase from last season. The Port continues to be a valuable part of the beneficial reuse supply chain on the Great Lakes.
242,085 tons of steel coils were handled by vessel, smashing the total of 132,066 tons received the season prior and resulting in an 83 percent increase. 6,518 tons of SBQ produced by Gerdau were handled.
A total of 143,035 tons of liquid asphalt was received by Michigan Paving and Materials representing a 3 percent increase from last season.
The Port will continue to see shipments of liquid asphalt and steel coils through the winter as weather permits.
Visitors
The Port welcomed Ashton Marine for the first time this past season. This Michigan-based tug company provided the transportation to New York during the wind energy project.
Four different McKeil Marine vessels called on the Port to deliver steel coils during the season, including the Alouette Spirit, Florence Spirit, Harvest Spirit, and Huron Spirit.
In total, the new Mark W. Barker visited Monroe three times in its delivery season, loading synthetic gypsum once and bar stock twice. The vessel’s square holds and wide hatch openings make it well-equipped to handle a number of cargoes in and out of Monroe.
Other newcomers to the Port in 2022 included the articulated tug/barge Clyde S. VanEnkevort/Erie Trader of VanEnkevort Tug & Barge and the Malcolm Marine tug Manitou.
The most frequent visitor to the Port was the Paul R. Tregurtha with 22 visits to the DTE Monroe Power Plant and 1 visit to the Riverfront dock. The Tregurtha was followed by the American Century with 18 and the Harvest Spirit with 11.
Check out this gallery to see all the ships that visited the Port during the 2022-23 shipping season!
On the horizon
In July 2022, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer signed the Maritime and Port Facility Assistance Grant Program Act which established the Maritime and Port Facility Assistance Office within the Michigan Department of Transportation that will create the Port Facility Improvement Fund. This increased maritime focus within MDOT will bring new funding opportunities to the Port of Monroe and other maritime stakeholders in the State of Michigan, which will enhance competition for stakeholders with this fund functioning as the local match in competitive federal grants.
In October 2022, the Port of Monroe was awarded over $11 million in funds from the Port Infrastructure Development Program for its Lake Erie Renewable Energy Resilience Project. The award is the largest in the Port’s history. The project will involve the rehabilitation of aging infrastructure at the Port including its turning basin dock which dates back to the 1930s and a small slip adjacent to the Port’s office that will be rebuilt into a “maritime readiness slip” to be used by local emergency response vessels. The Port’s existing riverfront wharf will also be rehabilitated, and a new identical wharf will be constructed on the riverfront to be used exclusively for the transfer of wind energy components. The project also includes the installation of shore power along the riverfront.
The Port continues to work with its stakeholders to develop the Michigan Maritime Gateway, a new container terminal that will complement existing maritime container operations on the Great Lakes and connect local importers and exporters to global markets. The Port received $5 million from the State of Michigan in support of this project.
Quotes
“The 2022 shipping season was one of the most historic in the Port’s history. While achieving near record tonnage throughput the Port handled the most diverse mix of vessels and cargoes since the Port’s inception in 1932,” said Capt. Paul C. LaMarre III, Port Director, Port of Monroe. “Our continued growth is a testament to the hardworking men and women who breathe life into our operations. As we look to the season ahead, the amount of infrastructure investment and cargo throughput will only be rivaled by the pride each of us take in making the Port of Monroe more sustainable on behalf of the citizens and industry we serve.”
“Without the continued support and dedication of the Port’s management team, the local, state, and federal governments, the incredible successes to date would not have been possible,” said Stephen Gray, President, DRM Terminal Management. “DRM’s rapid increase in tonnage and investment in equipment and human capitol throughout the region is a testament to the potentials that become a reality when private and public partnerships are stewarded by good governing principles. I am particularly proud of our contribution to beneficial reuse and the impact it has on the local community and beyond.”
“The port commission is very proud of the achievements that the Port staff and DRM have accomplished, and we acknowledge that none of this would be possible without the exceptional leadership of our port director Paul LaMarre,” said Dale Brose, Chairman, Monroe Port Commission. “In the ten years he has been at Monroe, he has continuously demonstrated the ability to build effective public-private partnerships that serve the needs of Monroe citizens and strengthen local and regional industries.”
– Port of Monroe (February 13, 2023)
Ports of Indiana names Jody Peacock as new CEO
Ports of Indiana has named Jody Peacock as the new chief executive officer for the statewide port authority which operates three ports on the Ohio River and Lake Michigan. The action was approved during today’s meeting of the Ports of Indiana Commission. Peacock has served in various leadership positions for the Ports of Indiana since 2001 and he most recently was senior vice president for business development. Peacock succeeds Vanta E. Coda II, who served as CEO from 2018 to 2022.
“We are extremely pleased to name Jody as Ports of Indiana’s new CEO,” said Commission Chairman Micah Vincent. “Jody’s extensive experience, customer-focused vision and deep understanding of the organization’s economic development mission make him uniquely well qualified for this role. We thank Vanta for his past service and leadership, and we look forward to a bright future as we strive to grow our state port system.”
During his 22 years with Ports of Indiana, Peacock helped develop multiple strategic plans and business initiatives that reshaped the bipartisan port authority from a small government-funded agency to a self-funded, entrepreneurial enterprise that has achieved record growth under five Governors. Peacock led business development efforts to attract millions of dollars in private investment to Indiana’s ports, expand the state’s foreign-trade zone and financing programs, and secure multiple federal grants for new infrastructure projects. Prior to his current role, Peacock spent more than 10 years directing the organization’s communications, marketing, government relations, corporate affairs and foreign-trade zone program.
“It’s a great honor to be asked by our Commission to lead an organization that has been such a big part of my life for more than 20 years,” Peacock said. “I am immensely proud to be part of the Ports of Indiana team and to share in our past success, but as I look to the future, I am even more excited to build on the relationships we have formed with our customers, our industry partners and community leaders to increase the contributions our ports make to Indiana’s economy.”
Peacock has previously received appointments by three Indiana Governors to serve on two binational Great Lakes boards that have established new regional economic and environmental policies, and by Governor Holcomb to the Volkswagen Environmental Mitigation Trust Fund Committee to oversee distribution of Indiana’s Volkswagen settlement.
Peacock grew up on a farm in Union City, Ind., and earned his Master of Business Administration degree from Indiana University Kelley School of Business and bachelor’s degree from Ohio Wesleyan University. He lives in northwest Indianapolis with his wife, Dr. Orla Hart, a biochemistry professor at Purdue University, and their two children.
“The Ports of Indiana is made up of a great team of professionals, world-class companies and one of the most well-connected inland port systems in the country,” Peacock said. “We offer ocean access at the Crossroads of America in one of the most business-friendly states in the country, which is truly unique value proposition for multimodal companies.”
– Ports of Indiana (February 13, 2023)
U.S. Great Lakes fleet set for $126 million in winter work
The U.S. Great Lakes shipping fleet has begun the annual transition from sailing to scheduled periods in regional docks and ship repair facilities for repair, maintenance and modernization.
This year alone, U.S. Great Lakes shipping companies will invest more than $126 million in their vessels—from over 1,000-feet to smaller tug and barge combinations—at shipyards and facilities across the Great Lakes, according to trade group the Lake Carriers’ Association. This includes more than $48 million in Wisconsin, $43.5 million in Ohio, $9 million in Michigan and $26 million spread across Minnesota, Illinois, New York and Pennsylvania.
Services range from replacing steel plating and engine overhauls, to navigation and other equipment updates and painting. Some vessels will be completely pulled from the water in a dry dock to be inspected, cleaned and repainted.
The work is critical to maintaining a fleet of freshwater vessels that will return to service in March, plying Great Lake waterways until January when they’ll return to the docks for the next repair cycle.
“It is a unique system here on the Great Lakes where U.S. shipping companies transport critical raw materials from the northern Great Lakes to manufacturing facilities on the lower lakes. The raw materials are transformed into finished products like steel which are then reinvested into our vessels,” said Jim Weakley, president of the Lake Carriers’ Association. “The relationship between Great Lakes shipyards and U.S. shipping is vital to the regional economy and supports our national economic security. Without this mutually beneficial relationship, it would be difficult to keep the pilot light of North American manufacturing lit.”
– Marine Link (February 6, 2023)
A G-tug assists American Century at the Port of Monroe. Sam Hankinson image, 2022
