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BY ANDREA HOLECEK | Source: NWI Times

A summary of the tentative four-year agreement between the United Steelworkers and U.S. Steel Corp. has been mailed to the 16,000 members in the 12 union locals covered by its terms.

Approval of the pact would put $6,000 signing bonuses in the pockets of each of the company’s union workers, including the 5,500 employed at the combination of Gary Works, the Midwest plant in Portage and at East Chicago Tin.

Voting on the agreement by union members is by mail-in ballot, with the vote to be counted in early to mid-September, said Jim Robinson, USW District 7 director.

Read the full story at the NWI Times >>

Michael Sangiacomo | Source: The Plain Dealer

While no one questions the lifesaving value of the Coast Guard’s still-unfinished emergency communications system, some in Washington are asking hard questions about its ballooning cost.

The price tag for the project, called Rescue 21, now stands at $1 billion - four times the original estimate given nine years ago.

Rescue 21 is like a 9-1-1 system for boaters. Most important, it allows the Coast Guard to home in on radio distress calls and pinpoint the caller’s location within several feet. It uses a series of radio transmission towers to instantly triangulate the caller’s position.

… Rescue 21 was supposed to be completed by now, but to date only 80 of the planned 231 continental U.S. transmitting towers have been set up. The system is in use along most of the coast of Florida and much of the East Coast.

The scheduled date of completion keeps moving further away, first to 2011 and now 2017. Eventually, there will be 340 towers, with sites that include the Great Lakes, Alaska, Hawaii, Guam and Puerto Rico. The nine Lake Erie towers are expected to be completed by August 2010.

Much more to this story at The Plain Dealer >>

Source: Dredging News Online

The Lake Carriers’ Association in the US says shipments of limestone on the Great Lakes totaled 4.2 million net tons in July, a decrease of 4.8 per cent compared to a year ago, and a drop of nearly 9 per cent compared to the month’s five-year average.

“Although water levels are rising, not all ports are benefiting to the same degree,” said the Association. Read the rest of this entry »

by Jordan Press | Source: Kingston Whig-Standard

Kenn Feigelman and his team of underwater filmmakers planned to spend the summer documenting on film all the known wrecks in the waters around Kingston.

They also hoped to find a new wreck.

They didn’t expect to find four old ships, including one that likely hasn’t been seen for nearly 200 years, along with a debris field of other ships near the city.

One wreck was previously found then lost. The wreck, a large hulk sitting on the bottom of the lake, is believed to be HMS Montreal, a Kingston-built ship that was scuttled after the War of 1812, said Feigelman, who runs DeepQuest2 Expeditions.

“This isn’t just Kingston history, this is North American history,” Feigelman said, referring to the warships his crew stumbled upon.

… The location of the find is being kept a secret. Parks Canada will be made aware of the location of the wrecks, but finds of this nature are kept secret to ensure nobody steals from or damages the remains, Feigelman said.

“We don’t want people to do souvenir hunting,” Feigelman said.

… Among these ships are several from the War of 1812, some of which researchers have been seeking for years. Feigelman said the large ship found this month is believed to be HMS Montreal.

During the war, the British ordered ships built in Kingston to counter the American fleet being built at Sackets Harbor, N. Y., on the south side of Lake Ontario. The Montreal was built in Kingston and launched in 1813.

Originally, she was named after Sir George Provost, the British governor-general who ordered her built. After launching, she was renamed HMS Wolfe and later HMS Montreal in January 1814.

HMS Montreal took part in several battles, including the raid and capture of the fort at Oswego, N. Y.

Read the full story, background of area and hopes of team at the Kingston Whig-Standard >>

By COREY LAROCQUE | Source: Niagara Falls Review

When massive lakers like the Robert S. Pierson and Canada Steamship Lines Laurentien are cruising through the Welland Canal, it takes more than a mile for them to stop.

It’s one of the reasons the Allanburg lift bridge over the canal stays up longer than the Glendale bridge. Vessels move faster in that straightaway stretch than they do on other sections of the canal that connects lakes Erie and Ontario.

It means the Allanburg bridge has to be up longer, because a ship would need more time to stop if there were a problem, says John Chalmers, operations support coordinator for St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corp.

…Not only do controllers manage the movement of ships and lift bridges on the canal, they’re responsible for security, using a network of closed-circuit cameras along seaway property.

The operations centre is also the canal’s emergency response centre in the event of a fire or other emergency aboard a ship. And one controller is responsible for deploying the seaway company’s employees where they need to be.

…”What we’re striving for, as a corporation, is to get ships through in 12.5 hours or less 90 per cent of the time,” said Chalmers.

Ship captains can count on getting through the Welland Canal in that period of time about 84 per cent of the time. On average, it takes 11 hours for a ship to travel through the canal.

Very neat behind-the-scenes look at Seaway Operations, including photo of the ops center, at the Niagara Falls Review >>

Michael Folsom | Source: The Ship Watcher

This afternoon I was greeted at my work mailbox by a package from the fine folks at Canada Steamship Lines.

Again like a kid in the candy shop I wanted to jump for joy.

Check out Michael’s haul at The Ship Watcher >>

Related:

• Coast Guard Days: Port Huron says thank you - Times Herald
• Port Huron celebrates the Coast Guard - Times Herald

By BOB GROSS | Source: Times Herald

On Saturday, residents and visitors watched the U.S. Coast Guard demonstrate a helicopter rescue — not once, but twice — in the St. Clair River near the Great Lakes Maritime Center at Vantage Point.

They also toured the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Bramble Museum at the Seaway Terminal as well as the Bramble’s replacement, the USCGC Hollyhock; the U.S. Navy Sea Cadets vessel, the Gray Fox; and the Huron Lightship at Pine Grove Park.

The U.S. Coast Guard Station at Omar Street also was open for tours.

Awesome pictures of Dolphin Helicopter rescue demonstration with this story at the Times Herald >>

Related: Labor negotiations closely watched by Wall Street - NWI Times

BY ANDREA HOLECEK | Source: Times Online

The presidents of the 12 USW locals covering about 14,000 workers at ArcelorMittal facilities are returning to Pittsburgh for a strategy session today. Negotiations with the company are scheduled to resume Monday.

Although agreements were reached on some issues, talks broke off Aug. 8 after the company rejected what the USW said was its final proposal, and the union rejected the company’s counteroffer.

The USW negotiating team for ArcelorMittal had hoped to reach an agreement that would set the pattern for the industry. Their hopes were dashed Monday when the union approved a tentative agreement with U.S. Steel Corp.

But the locals’ presidents specifically were asked not to take a strike authorization vote when they returned from Pittsburgh last week, according to a message one sent to his members.

Jim Robinson, USW District 7 director, said Thursday the union “has every intention” of reaching an agreement with ArcelorMittal next week.

Quotes, specific issues at the Times Online >>

By BOB GROSS | Source: The Times Herald

[T]ourists and visitors no longer can climb the 86 feet to the top of the Fort Gratiot Lighthouse.

The lighthouse tower, which was built in 1829 and increased to its present height in 1861, was declared off limits to the public by the U.S. Coast Guard on Friday because of “deteriorating brickwork, falling debris and questionable structural integrity.”

The lighthouse was supposed to be one of the centerpieces of Port Huron Coast Guard Days, which started Friday evening and continue through Sunday.

Visitors instead were greeted Friday by bright orange safety fencing keeping them away from the tower.

Elisabeth Johns | Source: Hamilton Spectator

Last week, a crowd at Ivor Wynne Stadium watched as a U.S. Steel Canada blast furnace belched out a black cloud.

On Wednesday, another black cloud containing coal and iron ore emissions floated over the city’s north end, one more product of a pressure release from an ArcelorMittal Dofasco blast furnace.

And Thursday afternoon, two thick red clouds filled with iron oxide spewed in nearly as many hours in another release from ArcelorMittal Dofasco’s blast furnace.

… On Aug. 6, in an unprecedented move, the company shut down a blast furnace because of the impact the wet weather is having on operations.

“Moisture poses a serious risk factor that we guard against every day as the reactions can be fast and sometimes violent, and can impact equipment, health and safety and, of course, environment,” said Andrew Sloan, company spokesperson.

The raw materials sitting in piles outside the plants — mostly coal and iron ore — soak up rainwater.

This excess moisture is causing more volatile reactions when these materials are heated in the blast furnace to make iron, the principal component of steel.

ArcelorMittal Dofasco shut down the blast furnace in a move that hasn’t been made in the past quarter-century, Sloan said.

Full story, picture of emissions cloud at the Hamilton Spectator >>

Source: Manitowoc Herald Times Reporter

MILWAUKEE — The USS Freedom Commissioning Committee and the Milwaukee Council of the Navy League of the United States will at 11 a.m. on Monday announce the commissioning date for the U.S. Navy ship Freedom (LCS-1), set by the secretary of the Navy, Donald C. Winter.

The news conference will be held at Discovery World at Pier Wisconsin, overlooking the harbor where Freedom will be commissioned. The ship’s commanding officers, elected officials and industry representatives are scheduled to be present. Freedom was built by the Lockheed Martin-led industry team that includes Gibbs & Cox, Marinette Marine and Bollinger Shipyards. DRS Power and Control Technologies Inc. of Milwaukee is a contractor for the project.

Christened by ship’s sponsor, Birgit Smith, at Wisconsin’s Marinette Marine Corporation shipyard on Sept. 23, 2006, Freedom is the first Navy ship of its type. Smith is the widow of U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Paul Ray Smith, who was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for bravery and gallantry above and beyond the call of duty in Operation Iraqi Freedom.

For information on the commissioning of LCS 1, visit the committee’s Web site at www.ussfreedom.org.

By STEPHEN UHLER | Source: The Daily Observer

Members of the Port of Prescott Management Board appeared before Renfrew County’s development and property committee Tuesday seeking political support for their efforts to secure funding from the Building Canada Fund, as well as get more help from the province.

Pat Sayeau, management board member, said the port’s primary need is to construct 20,000 tons of extra space to store the Eastern Ontario grain and corn shipped regularly from the facility.

This will cost approximately $3.5 million, he said, but is needed as the port’s storage elevators cannot keep up with current demand.

A longer term goal is securing $30 million to reconstruct the wharf, which is showing the weight of more than 70 years of continuous use.

Without the port, local farmers would have to transport their crops to Montreal or Hamilton to be shipped, which would add considerable expense to already thin rural budgets.

Mr. Sayeau said this also works both ways, as Prescott is the place where the rock salt used on Ontario roads is brought in.

Read the full story, quotes at the Daily Observer >>

By DONNA BORAK | Source: Green Bay Press Gazette

Lockheed Martin Corp. says a double-digit jump in the cost of steel and rising oil prices have helped propel the final price tag of its latest warship for the Navy to more than double the initial estimates.

Navy officials earlier this month told lawmakers the service’s initial estimate of $220 million per ship had ballooned to as much as $550 million, which they blamed on design changes that occurred during construction.

… “There is pretty sizable inflation in the shipbuilding industry and without that (inflationary) relief it makes it very difficult.”

Fred Moosally, president of Lockheed Martin Maritime Systems and Sensors, called the Navy’s initial cost estimate a “bogus number.”

“It’s ridiculous to talk about that number because there were so many changes made on that ship,” he said, declining to provide an updated estimated cost of the first ship citing competitive reasons.

Lockheed Martin is expected to deliver its first ship to the Navy in a few weeks, after the service completes its own set of trials and the company makes any necessary changes. The ship was built at Marinette Marine in Marinette.

Read the full story at the Green Bay Press Gazette >>

By LARRY OAKES | Source: Minneapolis Star Tribune

Somewhere down below, hidden in 500 feet of water, lay the wreckage of the Sunbeam, a wooden sidewheeler that sank with at least 25 passengers in 1863.

Jerry Eliason, Kraig Smith and two friends are determined to find it. They are a rare breed: Adventurers who spend much of their spare time and money searching for the shipwrecks that litter the bottom of Lake Superior.

‘There are only about 50 serious wreck hunters on the whole Great Lakes, and those guys on western Lake Superior are in the top five,” said Brendon Baillod, a maritime historian who runs www.ship-wrecks.net, a Great Lakes shipwreck research website.

About 100 Lake Superior shipwrecks remain unaccounted for, while the locations of more than 200 other submerged wrecks are known.

Eliason, Smith, and their friends Ken Merryman and Randy Beebe already have discovered eight of the lake’s long-lost wrecks.

Much more to this story, video at the Minneapolis Star Tribune >>

Source: Alternative Energy Foundation

Natural Source Printing (NSP), an FSC Certified and Carbon neutral source for sustainable, eco-friendly printing, packaging, and marketing materials has introduced FiberStone™ Papers- a line of tree-free, low carbon footprint papers. NSP has been producing labels, unit cartons, POP displays, casepacks, brochures, catalogs, annual reports and high quality pressure sensitive labels on the stone paper material.

FiberStone™ Tree-Free papers come from an abundant renewable, sustainable resource- limestone.

Loyer adds, “More and more green conscious companies are focusing on sustainable and low carbon footprint materials. Our own unique FiberStone™ Tree-Free Papers have a carbon footprint that is at least 1/3 that of virgin paper, half that of recycled paper.” Loyer explains that the production of FiberStone™ Papers uses no water in processing, no trees, no chemicals, and very little energy to produce.

Right now calcium carbonate is used as a whitening agent for regular virgin and recycled paper, but people have discovered that it can replace virgin or recycled paper altogether. To the touch, it feels like a regular coated paper. And because it doesn’t require water to manufacture, it saves more than just trees.

Read the full article at the Alternative Energy Foundation >>

Georgette Senter | Source: The News-Dispatch

A La Porte County man who lost both legs in an accident at ArcelorMittal Steel Mill in Burns Harbor two weeks ago has not lost his zest for life.

James Dolph, 56, suffered massive injuries on July 30.

A railcar he was attempting to switch to a different track rolled over Dolph, severing both legs. His left leg was severed 5 inches below the knee and his right leg was severed 7 1/2 inches above the knee.

… After the accident, Dolph was airlifted to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, Ill., where doctors operated to reduce the trauma to Dolph’s injuries.

Leidy said Wednesday her father has been transferred to a rehabilitation center in South Bend where he as begun the process of healing and recovery.

…  Dolph has worked at the mill for 36 years. His daughter said the day of the accident was actually her father’s day off but another manager was on vacation so he had decided to work.

Once his legs are healed, Dolph will be fitted for prosthetic legs, Leidy said.

In the meantime, family members, friends and co-workers have come together to support Dolph, and his wife, Janet.

“It has only been two weeks since the accident and a ramp has been built at my parents’ house,” Leidy said. “We are prepared for when he can come home.”

Doctors have told Dolph he may be in rehabilitation until Christmas.

There is great inspiration behind James Dolph’s story, read how he still plans to finish hiking the Appalacian Trail >>

Source: Duluth Seaway Port Authority

Higher Great Lakes water levels, continued strong coal shipments and a windfall of wind turbine traffic all contributed to strong tonnage totals through July, yet Duluth-Superior’s maritime commerce is lagging slightly behind last year’s record-setting pace, the Duluth Seaway Port Authority reported today.

All cargo through July totaled 21 million short tons, 6.5 percent behind 2007, which is remarkable considering grain shipments were down 62 percent compared to this timeframe last year.

Lake Levels Up.

Above average spring rainfall in all of the Great Lakes basins raised lake levels well above their levels of a year ago. Lake Superior is 16 inches above last year’s level, and forecasted to rise an additional inch over the next 30 days, enough to allow vessels to depart Duluth-Superior with as much as 14 additional inches of draft compared to the end of last year’s shipping season.

Each inch of draft means about 270 tons of cargo for the largest domestic lakers and about 100 tons for typical Seaway vessels. The remaining Great Lakes range from 6 to 13 inches above their levels of a year ago, and despite some seasonal declines forecasted for Lakes Erie, Michigan-Huron and Ontario, all (with the exception of Erie) are expected to remain above 2007 water levels over the next few months.

Coal Leads Commerce.

Historically the Port’s No. 2 cargo, coal shipments eclipsed iron ore during the early months of the 2008 shipping season and continue as the Port’s maritime commerce leader to date. The clean-burning, low-sulfur coal shipped via the port’s Midwest Energy Resources Company terminal reached 9.9 million tons through July (three percent above last year’s level). Total iron ore shipments through July of 8.9 million tons were running 12.4 percent behind 2007 tonnage totals to date. Iron ore shipments are expected to increase in the second half of the shipping season.

Project Cargo on Track.

Project cargo shipments at the Clure Public Marine Terminal continue to be strong. Wind turbine component cargo handled by Lake Superior Warehousing Co. is Read the rest of this entry »

ELAINE DELLA-MATTIA | Source: Daily Commercial News

Essar Algoma Steel’s co-generation plant is running behind production schedule, keeping many of the required tradesmen at the sprawling plant to complete that project.

When completed, the plant will use its own waste to produce energy.

As well, Essar has expanded its maintenance and piping project as part of an internal capital works program.

“Essar’s program of maintenance and its plan to increase its steelmaking capacity has also required extra manpower,” Thomas said. “They’re doing lots of work upgrading and they’ll require a few years of manpower.”

… Trade shortages are being experienced throughout the country, especially with an aging workforce and a declining number of people entering trade professions.

Read the full story, more work opportunities at the Daily Commercial News >>

Source: Sunny Steel News Center

Prices continued to increase for all steel products and the mills have announced further price increases for August and September. Our contacts voiced increased pessimism, however, on the ability of the mills to pass along the announced increases and as well as achieve higher pricing in the fourth quarter.

… The diminishing outlook of distributors on steel-pricing fundamentals is driven by the widely reported declines in ferrous scrap pricing and further weakness in demand, particularly for automotive.

… ArcelorMittal is taking a fourth-quarter 2008 100-day maintenance outage at its Burns Harbor mill, which will significantly reduce the amount of steel production aimed at the sluggish domestic automotive industry.

Many more predictions, citations at the Sunny Steel News Center >>

Source: Herald Times Reporter

LUDINGTON, Mich. — The S.S. Badger … resume[d] its regular twice-daily Lake Michigan crossings [Friday] after completion of repairs at Bay Shipbuilding.

The ship experienced a problem with a stern bearing last Sunday that could not be repaired at the dock, forcing it to sail to the shipyard in Sturgeon Bay.

Because no dry dock space was available, a team of underwater repair specialists was flown in from California.

Badger officials said Thursday the California team worked around the clock to get the ship back in service, and able to transport vehicles and people between Ludington and Manitowoc.

Full story, photo at the Herald Times Reporter >>