Escanaba Closure

[Guest]

Interesting discussion, however earlier posts comment on shipments out of the seaway,this is leaving as raw ore not finished steel products, why isn't it being shipped to US steel plants to manufacture into steel?

[esky]

i heard there is ore in the empire , but the price of ore is too low to make them any money . economics killed the empire

[garbear]

The closure of the escanaba ore dock speaks volumes to the point of a world economy that no longer needs the ore from the upper Great Lakes

If that's the case then how do you explain the increased Ore shipments on Canadien boats for delivery out the seaway?

Totally agree with Jon Paul. I don't remember in all the years I've lived in the Twin Ports seeing so much Twin Ports/North Shore taconite
heading for Quebec City and then on to overseas markets. I know it's a little exaggeration, but hardly a day goes by where there isn't a boat loading here in the Twin Ports and North Shore, in particular Two Harbors, where the cargo is destined for Quebec. This season it looks like the world economy needs Minnesota taconite.

[Jon Paul]

The closure of the escanaba ore dock speaks volumes to the point of a world economy that no longer needs the ore from the upper Great Lakes

If that's the case then how do you explain the increased Ore shipments on Canadien boats for delivery out the seaway?

[garbear]

The closure of the escanaba ore dock speaks volumes to the point of a world economy that no longer needs the ore from the upper Great Lakes

The Empire Mine that supplied most of the ore to Escanaba closed because of no more ore. Has nothing to do with the world economy.

[Guest]

How about the Tilden Mine, just west of the Empire, near Ishpeming? The Tilden is still operating, isn't it? Is the idea that with the Empire closed, the Tilden ore can all be shipped through Marquette, with no need for assistance from Escanaba?

[Guest]

The closure of the escanaba ore dock speaks volumes to the point of a world economy that no longer needs the ore from the upper Great Lakes

[rburdick27]

Very slow so far in Marquette this spring. No signs of an impact, yet.

[Guest]

With the dock now closed, I imagine there will be more activity to move ore down from Lake Superior ports during the regular season. By default, the movement of ore will begin and stop from this point forward with the opening and closing of the Soo Locks. Is the loss of Escanaba going to lead to increased traffic at Marquette? Or will it shift more toward Two Harbors and Duluth? Regardless, this will definitely impact the CML fleet as their vessels were usually among the earliest out and latest to layup.

[Guest]

The ore stockpile is getting small, the block was in twice the past week

[garbear]

I guess I'll answer the question I posted. I see the Block is once again bound for Escanaba to load pellets. Obviously there is still some stockpile left.

[garbear]

Has the stockpile been completely shipped? I see the Joseph L. Block
is scheduled for here in the Twin Ports and the Joyce L. VanEnkevort/Great Lakes Trader is now on other runs. I know they were loading the majority of pellets out of Esky this spring.

[Guest]

I guess this is just an economic statement from CN. Seems to me that there was always a ship loading and one waiting every morning when looking at the news page. A lot of loads moved this winter as well. Is there another loading facility on lake MI which can load? Is the only reason to close this dock because CN doesn't want to service this dock? Thanks

It's the same situation that occurred at Ashland, Wis.; the Northern Pacific dock in Superior, Wis.; and the Taconite Harbor dock in Minnesota. When the mine or mines close, the loading dock is no longer needed.

[Mr Link]

I guess this is just an economic statement from CN. Seems to me that there was always a ship loading and one waiting every morning when looking at the news page. A lot of loads moved this winter as well. Is there another loading facility on lake MI which can load? Is the only reason to close this dock because CN doesn't want to service this dock? Thanks

No other ore docks on Lake Michigan. The reason the dock closed is that the mine it served, Empire Mine, closed last year. Ran out of ore worth mining. An anticipated closure that Cliffs Mining had announced years ago. The ore dock has been running since then on its stockpiled ore. Once that is gone there is nothing else to ship.

[Guest]

I guess this is just an economic statement from CN. Seems to me that there was always a ship loading and one waiting every morning when looking at the news page. A lot of loads moved this winter as well. Is there another loading facility on lake MI which can load? Is the only reason to close this dock because CN doesn't want to service this dock? Thanks

Its the only Ore dock on Lake Michigan. it mostly see's cargo movements after the locks close and before they open. aside from that small time window, they see very few loads during the shipping season.

[Huronview]

I guess this is just an economic statement from CN. Seems to me that there was always a ship loading and one waiting every morning when looking at the news page. A lot of loads moved this winter as well. Is there another loading facility on lake MI which can load? Is the only reason to close this dock because CN doesn't want to service this dock? Thanks

[Brian Ferguson]

I understand this is business but it is sad to see 150 years of history come to an end. Honestly if it wasn't for spending my summers near Rapid River at my Grandparents as a kid and watching the SOO, MR, and WC trains, as well as the ships loading I don't think I would have gotten into transportation history and I don't think I would have ended up on working the boats in the summers of my college years.

[Guest]

This is a serious blow to the infrastructure of moving raw products, when these docks close the rail system is next, the permitting process to build a new one in the future would be a significant challenge, not to many years ago 7.5 million tons were shipped out of this facility per year

[Guest]

The closure of the Escanaba ore dock may provide some extra work for US flagged vessels. The loss of this loading port will preclude any early or late season ore movements on Lake Michigan and as such this tonnage will have to be carried during the regular season between the opening and closure of the Soo Locks. In addition, this cargo will need to be transported over longer voyages. This may lead to the Wilfred Sykes becoming more active on Lake Superior although it may also be likely to see that vessel operating into other trades on Lakes Huron and Erie if ships from other fleets become more actively engaged in delivering taconite to Indiana Harbor. These are just some personal predictions, however, and I may be entirely incorrect. It does seem clear that there will definitely be a shift in US flagged operations to adjust to the loss of the Escanaba loading facility.