b'MAY 10 - 23, 2021BREAKBULK QUARTERLY 15Wind cargo growing at US Great Lakes portsWind power keying project cargo moves ports on the US Great Lakes.By Leo Ryan, AJOT AtagrowingnumberofdefinesthePortofMonroe ports on the U.S. Great Lakes,duringthesechallenging multi-purposevesselscarry- timesitisresilient,,says ing wind farm components andPaul LaMarre III, port direc-projectcargohavebecomeator. In the midst of an ever familiar sight. evolving economic and social Among these ports, oneclimate, our team has adapted findsDuluth,Ogdensburg,tonewprotocolsandrein-Buffalo,Erie,Monroe,Bayforced longstanding relation-City,BurnsHarbor,Chi- shipsleadingtothePorts cago and Menominee. Manymostprosperousyearinits ofthewindcomponentshistory. As the home to one originate from Spain, Southof only four wind tower man-Korea and Germany. ufacturersintheU.S.,Ven-For its part, the U.S. windtower Industries, the Port has industry had its strongest yearbecome a regional congrega-ever in 2020, with new powertion and distribution hub for capacitysurging85%overGE Wind. At the Port of Duluth-Superior, a 2020 total of 525,000 freight tons easily eclipsed 2019s mark of 306,000 freight tons.2019. This brought the total capacity to 122,478 MW, or enough to power 38 million American homes. States with installed wind power include Minnesota and Illinois in the GreatLakes,thoughTexas alone accounts for one quar-ter of the U.S. total.ofAtthePortofDuluth- LINER SERVICE Superior,a2020recordtotal 525,000 freight tons easily eclipsed2019smarkof 306,000 freight tons. The ship-BETWEEN EUROPE AND ments by 30 oceangoing ships fromeightcountriesincluded thelongestblades(242feet) THE GREAT LAKESand towers (100 feet) ever han-dled at the port.Looking beyond the num-bers,DebDeLuca,executive director of the Duluth Seaway PortAuthority,stressesthat thePortsemergenceasa windcargohubisanimpor-tant win for cargo diversity and fortheexpansionofrenew-able energy nationwide. Being NorthAmericasfurthest inland seaport really lends well toDuluthbeingtheMidwest hub for wind cargo arrivals.Cantherecordwind cargopacecarrythrough this year? Here Jayson Hron, marketingdirector,replies: The2021outlookisstill taking shape, but it does not appearlikelythattheport will register a third consecu-tive record-setting season for this particular cargo. The first and only year-Alsoworthyofspecialround liner service between mention is the Port of Monroe in Michigan, which benefitedEurope and the Great lakesfrom the largest project in its history in 2020, handling 14 vesselsthatdeliveredatotalQuick transit time | Through bills of lading | Onward connections using of 560 wind turbine segmentsSpliethoffs European and American logistic network | Line-fromBcancour,Quebecsupplied containers, project, heavy lift, steel, forest products and bulk| forGeneralElectricswindCalling various Great Lake ports, including: energy activities in the state.- Valleyfield QU - Cleveland OH - Duluth MNThe project helped offset the- Rameys Bend ON - Chicago IL - Monroe MIpandemic-relatedscarcityofwww.spliethoff.com [email protected] cargoes at the beginning of the season.GeneralElectrichas apartnershipwithMonroe-basedVentower,whichhas produced several wind energy components for the company. If there is one word that'