Great Lakes bulk carrier winter repair period coming to an end
Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding in Wisconsin is a leading US flag Laker repair yard (Source: Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding)
US shipping companies are spending more than USD 120 million on their Great Lakes bulk carrier fleets winter refits. The US flag Laker fleets move more than 90 million tons of cargo annually – iron ore, stone, coal, grain, salt and sand.
This season, the winter refit season started late in mid-January after the navigation locks connecting Lake Superior to the lower lakes closed for repairs.
The state receiving the largest share of this year’s winter refit business is Wisconsin, with USD 55 million of work, followed Ohio with USD 39 million, Pennsylvania with USD 19 million and Michigan with USD 7 million, according to figures from the Lake Carriers Association (LCA), a trade group representing the US flag Great Lakes fleet.
While frigid winter weather conditions as another layer of difficulty to what is already a challenging job, the LCA said, this year’s ship repair and maintenance work will be slightly less daunting due to milder temperatures across the Great Lakes region.
The leading ship repair yards for US flag Lakers includes the following:
- Fraser Shipyards, Superior, Wisconsin
- Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding, Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin
- Great Lakes Shipyard, Cleveland, Ohio,
- Hansen Industries, Toledo, Ohio
- Donjon Shipbuilding and Repair, Erie, Pennsylvania
