Iron ore shipping season wraps up
By SAM EGGLESTON, Journal Ishpeming BureauArticle Photos
The Earl W. Oglebay pushed through the Soo Locks before they closed Tuesday, ushering in the official winter break for the Lake Superior shipping season.
Now, workers at the Cleveland Cliffs Inc.-owned docks will begin the “off season” work of maintenance as they prepare for another busy season come spring.
“There is a lot of maintenance that takes place,” said Dale Hemmila, the district manager of public affairs for CCI. “There are a lot of things that will have to be done between the end of the shipping season and when shipping resumes.”
According the Hemmila, 2007 shipping tonnage showed a slight decline compared to the 2006 shipping season. About 6.4 million tons of ore was shipped in 2006 on more than 300 boats, while numbers were lower this year due to two scheduled blast furnace outages in steel plants in Sault Ste. Marie and Dearborn.
“They took less ore because of those scheduled outages,” Hemmila said.
Official tonnage for the 2007 season won’t be available until February.
While some ore is shipped via railroad lines, Hemmila said a majority of the ore processed during the usual January through April break would be stored here in the Upper Peninsula.
“Production isn’t affected,” he said. “Shipping is because we can’t ship on Lake Superior in the winter time. With the locks closed, there’s not much we can do.”
