Great Lakes commercial shippers aren’t immune to supply chain issues. And one solution may be something they’ve been asking for for years.
Commercial shippers on the Great Lakes say they need another heavy icebreaker in order to keep ships moving in the winter. They say cargoes were delayed this season despite a relatively mild and slow start to winter. And when the Soo Locks open again next month there may be more delays.
Eric Peace, Vice President of the Lake Carriers Association said the heavy icebreaker Mackinaw simply can’t keep up.
"It’s only one vessel. How can we expect it to cover four lakes? And that’s really where we’re looking for some sort of bench strength in that heavy ice-breaking capability".
Peace said another shipping concern is that the Coast Guard doesn’t count ships that are stuck in certain areas, and that means winter delays are growing.
"So the reason it’s gotten this bad is because the Coast Guard has metrics which do not illustrate exactly what’s going on in the system. So if you have a boat stuck in Duluth or in the middle of Lake Superior, it doesn’t count against the Coast Guard’s metrics of keeping the waterways open with ice breaking."
Peace said changing metrics is a long-term goal, the immediate need is for the Coast Guard to get another heavy icebreaker commissioned for the lakes.
He said the federal bipartisan infrastructure bill had contained funding for an icebreaker, but that was removed during negotiations. Then funding was included in the Build Back Better plan, which President Biden has said needs to be broken up in order to - perhaps - pass congress.