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Great Lakes
Article:
Might oceangoing vessels leave Great
Lakes?
Study: Cost of regulation could radically change shipping
practices
By Susan Erler
Northwest Indiana Times
Published December 1, 2005
CHICAGO | Oceangoing vessels cruise the Great Lakes loaded
with Northwest Indiana-made steel and locally grown grain,
but they also can carry unwelcome fish and plant life
deep inside their hulls.
The invasion of zebra mussels and other non-native species
that hitch rides in ships' ballast tanks is a multimillion-dollar
problem under scrutiny by the nation's lawmakers.
Removing high-seas vessels from the Great Lakes transportation
chain could take a shark-size bite out of the shipping
economy at a time when the state and region are positioning
themselves as travel hubs.
The cost of eliminating ocean shipping on the Great Lakes
could total $55 million annually, increasing transportation
costs by 5.4 percent, according to authors of a study
presented Wednesday at the Shedd Aquarium.
John Taylor, a marketing and logistics professor at Grand
Valley State University in Grand Rapids, Mich., and James
Roach, a consultant and former Michigan Department of
Transportation official, studied traffic in 2002 along
the St. Lawrence Seaway into and out of the Great Lakes.
The study could shed light on what's likely to happen
if regulations for oceangoing vessels are tightened.
"If the cost of regulation rises, then cargo shippers
may change their transportation mode," Taylor said.
Getting grain to market through Canada by rail and highway
rather than ship would add $7.3 million yearly to transportation
costs, according to the study. Grain movement out of the
Midwest from Duluth, Minn., would cost another $3.3 million.
The cost of transporting steel would rise by an annual
$26.4 million if rail cars, trucks and barges moved it,
as opposed to oceangoing vessels on the Great Lakes, the
study said.
Shifting cargo to alternative transportation modes would
mean adding another 1.6 trains and 197 trucks per day
to the system, the study's authors said.
The added costs go beyond cargo shipments, said Jody
Peacock, spokesman for Ports of Indiana, including the
port at Burns Harbor, where 154 ships docked so far this
year. About half of those are oceangoing, while the other
half are equipped only to navigate the lakes.
"You're talking about putting millions of trucks
on the road," Peacock said. "You're talking
about increased pollution, increased congestion, increased
highway funding and maintenance costs."
The steel industry in Northwest Indiana has come to rely
on oceangoing vessels, Peacock said.
"Obviously, the whole steel industry has been set
up to take advantage of the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Seaway
system. It can take large volumes of cargo right into
the heartland of our country.
"It's just much more efficient to shop by water,"
Peacock said.
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