Despite low water levels in the Great Lakes this year, shipping officials say the amount of cargo traveling through the region has not dropped off much over last year. However, they say that’s because ships are making more trips than before. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Dale Willman reports:
Transcript
Despite low water levels in the Great Lakes this year, shipping officials say the amount of
cargo traveling through the region has not dropped off much over last year. However,
they say that’s because ships are making more trips than before. The Great Lakes Radio
Consortium’s Dale Willman reports.
The problem, says George Ryan of the Lake Carrier’s Association, is one of depth. With
lake levels this past spring reaching a 35-year low, bigger ships could not run fully loaded
through shallower passages without dragging on the lake bottom. So he says those ships
had to run with lighter loads, and make more trips to make up the difference.
“We started the season much earlier, because we had a
mild winter. So we got a number of trips in in March. And we’ve had very good weather.
Not as much fog, so there have been fewer delays. So we have made more trips, but less
tonnage in each ship.”
Now Ryan says a mild winter is needed so that shippers can keep cargo moving as long
as possible before heavy ice sets in.
For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Dale Willman.