Boatnerd News – February 21, 2023

Cleveland-Cliffs to restart Northshore Mining in April

It’s the news that Northshore Mining has been waiting to hear. Cleveland-Cliffs has told area lawmakers that they plan on restarting the mine in Babbitt and the plant in Silver Bay in early April.

The operation has been idle since last May, putting over 450 people on layoff.

The mayor of Silver Bay, Wade LeBlanc, said they couldn’t ask for better news.

“I’m encouraged that Cleveland-Cliffs is beginning the process to reopen their facilities in Babbitt and Silver Bay,” said Sen. Hauschild. “In recent months, I’ve held several meetings with Cleveland-Cliffs to discuss the importance of reopening these plants as soon as possible. These mines and jobs are critical to our regional economy. I heard from numerous miners who were impacted by this closure who said they wanted to get back to work. While we were able to get them a bridge in unemployment insurance benefits until April with my recent bill, my primary goal has always been to reopen these two plants. I’m glad to say that we’re one step closer to making that happen.”

Earlier this year, the Legislature passed a bill authored by Sens. Grant Hauschild, Jen McEwen, Rob Farnsworth, Justin Eichorn, and Kari Dziedzic and Reps. Dave Lislegard, Roger Skraba, and Spencer Igo which extended unemployment insurance benefits for miners who had been laid off. Reps. Dan Wolgamott, Emma Greenman, Cedrick Frazier, Jeff Brand, Ben Davis, Brad Tabke, and Melissa Hortman also signed on.

Sen. Hauschild said this bill went a long way in helping those workers, but he stayed focused on the ultimate goal of supporting Cleveland-Cliffs’ efforts to reopen their mining operations.

– WDIO (February 20, 2023)

Furetank and Algoma Central Corporation extend joint venture through tanker acquisition with Larsson Shipping

The Furetank/Algoma joint venture FureBear, together with Larsson Shipping, takes over the ownership of Algoma’s product tanker Algonorth. It has arrived from Canada to trade in Northern Europe under the new name Fure Skagen.

– We are strengthening our collaboration with Algoma, with a high standard vessel of its generation. The addition of Fure Skagen will improve the services we can offer our customers and give us a well-timed overlap while waiting for the new Vinga series vessels to arrive from the shipyard in China in the coming years, says Lars Höglund, CEO of Furetank.

Fure Skagen is a 16,958 dwt double hull product oil tanker built in 2008. Her twelve epoxy coated cargo tank capacity is 19,594 cubic metres. Her ice class and super strip system makes her well designed for the intense Northern European trade.

– This is another example of how great partnerships lead to further collaborations that optimize organizational strength and enable us to deploy assets to the best and highest use for our customers. We look forward to having Fure Skagen joined by eight newbuilds, to be owned by FureBear, with the first vessel expected to be delivered later this year, says Gregg Ruhl, President and CEO of Algoma Central Corporation.

Furetank’s customers have previous experience with Fure Skagen, as Algoma acquired the vessel from Furetank’s Gothia Tanker Alliance partner Rederi AB Älvtank in 2018.

Fure Skagen will be flying the Faroe Island flag and is owned by FureBear and Larsson Shipping. She will be commercially managed by Furetank Chartering in the Gothia Tanker Alliance.

– Furetank (February 20, 2023)