Fednav MEDIA
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Fednav urges trade boost for St Lawrence Seaway
Leo Ryan, Montreal
Lloyd's List
July 28, 2009
PLUNGING cargo traffic on the St Lawrence Seaway has prompted one of North America’s most influential shipping figures, Fednav president Laurence Pathy, to propose a binational stakeholder meeting to help “re-energise” trade.
State and federal regulators and officials representing the Canadian and US Seaway corporations, shippers, carriers, labour unions, pilots and the environmental community should all be involved, said Mr Pathy.
“The key to the future lies in working co-operatively,” Mr Pathy said. “We need to be innovative in our thinking and in our actions, and we need to tackle our primary challenge, which is to re-energise trade through this truly green highway.”
Mr Pathy made the proposal at the latest event this summer, held at Massena, NY, commemorating the 50th anniversary of the St Lawrence Seaway.
At the various ceremonies staged in Montreal, Cornwall, St Catherines and Massena, government and industry officials have paid tribute to an engineering marvel and important maritime corridor in North America. But there has been little to cheer about in worsening cargo performance. Even well before the recession, the Seaway has been mired in steady decline for two decades and is currently operating at barely 40% capacity.
Fleet utilisation by domestic Canadian operators has dropped by about 20% while nearly 40% of the US-flag fleet on the Great Lakes is idle.
The biggest factor in that decline is the depressed state of the steel and automobile industries in the region.
The region’s two largest ports, Hamilton and Duluth-Superior (Wisconsin), have seen their cargo volume plummet by about 50%. Hamilton has been dealt a punishing blow by the closure of two steel mills.
Freight shipping on the St Lawrence Seaway, which began on March 31 following the annual winter closing, has fallen dramatically. Total cargo to the end of June amounted to 9m tonnes versus 14m tonnes a year earlier – a 36% plunge.
Worst hit was iron ore which dropped from 4.7m tonnes to 1.9m tonnes.
Although at the end of June, grain volume was up 24% at 2.6m tonnes, this trend was not expected to continue in light of the severe drought this summer in Canada’s Prairie provinces.
Observers expect Seaway throughput for all of 2009 to decline by at least 10% below last year’s 40.7m tonnes.
In his remarks, Mr Pathy said that changing trade patterns were among the most serious challenges along with rising costs – whether in building ships, paying pilotage fees, or in cargo handling.
But he stressed he remained “very positive about the long-term viability of the St Lawrence Seaway”.
He said the Seaway system remained “the most economical way to move [bulk] cargo into and out of the North American heartland”.
The St Lawrence Seaway links Canada and the US to the Atlantic ocean. Based in Montreal, Fednav is the largest ocean-going user of the Seaway.
