Port of Milwaukee’s Ship Has Come in
By RICK BARRETT
When the first oceangoing ship of the year steams into the Port of Milwaukee from Europe next week, it could be the start of another robust international shipping season for cargo ranging from grain to wind turbines.
In 2006, the port handled more than 710,000 metric tons of imports and exports through the St. Lawrence Seaway – up 99% from the year before. Including domestic shipping, it handled 3.8 million tons of cargo from about 300 ships, the highest tonnage in 36 years.
Grain was a big part of the increase in international shipping in 2006, since Milwaukee was one of a few Great Lakes ports to have exported grain under the United Nations’ world food program.
One ship, the Federal Margaree, unloaded steel here and then left with more than 11,000 tons of bagged corn, soybeans, cornmeal, green peas and yellow peas. After arriving in Uganda, Kenya and the Democratic Republic of Congo, the 24.2 million pounds of grain was enough to provide meals for nearly 5 million people.
That one grain shipment required 44 workers to unload the railroad cars carrying 55- and 110-pound bags. In the 32 days it took to palletize the grain for shipment to Africa, workers received more than $97,000 in wages and benefits.
"The demand for grain is unprecedented now. We are shipping a lot of it overseas," said Eric Reinelt, port director.
Grain, utilities gear helped
In 2006, the port also handled thousands of tons of equipment to generate wind power and parts for power plants being built in Oak Creek, Port Washington and Illinois. Steel imports, and exports of Wisconsin manufactured products, were up 62% through the St. Lawrence Seaway, according to port officials.
The port recorded the second-highest increase in international tonnage of any U.S. location on the St. Lawrence Seaway system, which connects the Great Lakes to the Atlantic Ocean.
"We hope it will be repeated this year," Reinelt said. "If the grain crop is good, that will help us. And we are still getting a lot of business from the wind generators and power plants. Those have been gold mines for us."
Wisconsin’s 15 commercial ports, including two on the Mississippi River, transport more than 44 million metric tons of cargo a year and support more than 11,000 jobs. At least 16 million tons of coal per year are loaded onto ships at Superior for delivery to eastern Great Lakes cities.
Breakwater needs work
Collectively, Great Lakes ports handle hundreds of millions of tons of cargo a year and make large-scale manufacturing possible in dozens of cities. But many of the ports, including Milwaukee, have issues that could undermine the region’s economic vitality.
Sections of the Lake Michigan breakwater in Milwaukee have deteriorated, raising concerns about its ability to protect the docks and lakefront developments.
The breakwater isn’t in danger of collapsing, but some sections are in poor shape, according to the Army Corps of Engineers. Other breakwaters on Lake Michigan have collapsed, resulting in emergencies.
The Army Corps estimates it would cost $12 million to rebuild Milwaukee’s breakwater over an eight-year period. It would cost about $800,000 for minimal repairs.
Underwater photographs show rocks that have fallen out of place and rusted steel sheeting. The worst sections are in the areas that protect the Milwaukee Art Museum, the Discovery World center and Summerfest.
"The breakwater needs some care soon," Reinelt said. "Certainly if not this year, we need some work done in 2008."
Depth can limit traffic
Milwaukee’s port isn’t the only one in the state that faces difficulties. Green Bay’s port needs millions of dollars in dredging to restore the shipping channel to adequate depths. In 2006 it was about a third of its designated width, threatening the shipping of wood pulp, salt, construction materials and other products.
Green Bay handled about 2.6 million tons of cargo last year and set tonnage records for three previous years. But, like some other Great Lakes ports, it has turned away heavily loaded vessels because the shipping channel was too shallow.
Today, three of every four ships leave the dock "light loaded" because ports and connecting channels on the Great Lakes are not dredged to proper depths and widths, according to the Lake Carriers’ Association, based in Cleveland.
The 63 U.S. ships on the Great Lakes lose more than 8,000 tons of cargo each trip when forced to trim just 1 inch from their drafted load. Eight thousand tons of iron ore could produce enough steel for 6,000 automobiles.
But the loss of water depth in the Great Lakes is more accurately measured in feet than inches.
Some shipping firms will no longer send vessels up the Saginaw River, to the Lake Huron port in Saginaw, Mich., because of the shallow depths.
Water-based shipments to the Lake Erie port in Dunkirk, N.Y., ended in 2005 because of shallow depths. It was a small port, but like other locations, it was important as part of an integrated shipping system.
Great Lakes ports haven’t received a fair share of the Army Corps’ budget for dredging and breakwater repairs, said Steve Fisher, executive director of the Lake Carriers’ Association.
"We are making a lot of noise about it," he said. "Now, the Port of Cleveland literally doesn’t need more money for dredging this year. The Army Corps fully funded a backlog of work there."
The Army Corps designated about $700,000 for dredging at the Port of Milwaukee this year.
"We should be in pretty good shape as long as the lake levels don’t go down much more," Reinelt said.
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