Last Saltie of the Season Departs Harbor of Duluth-Superior

Great Lakes shipping season likely to last another several weeks

DULUTH, Minn. – The last saltie of the season shipped out of the port of Duluth-Superior Saturday.

The Federal Rhine departed Saturday afternoon.

According to the Duluth Seaway Port Authority, the 2018 shipping season has been a strong one both with shipments of grain and iron ore cargoes.

“When we look back about five or six years we average about thirty-five million short tons of cargo through the port of Duluth-Superior each year. We will likely end up somewhere between thirty-two and thirty-three million this year, so down slightly but a lot of that you can attribute to the downward trend in shipping of coal,” said Adele Yorde, public relations director of the Duluth Seaway Port Authority.

While this might signal the end of the international season, there are likely still four plus weeks to go in the Great Lakes shipping season.