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Great Lakes port looks to box feeders from Montreal, Canada east coast
2009/4/8
FEEDER service to Great Lakes ports, such as Oswego, New York, is surfacing as a possible trend in shipping on the St Lawrence River to avoid east coast harbour congestion, reports Newark''s Journal of Commerce.
"I would be surprised if we do not see the first shipment of containers here in the next 365 days," said Oswego port director Jonathan Daniel. "We found that shippers of cargo moving to end-users in the Oswego area, that were not using the port, all of a sudden found that waterborne transportation was more cost-effective."
Mr Daniels, supported by stimulus package money, is discussing the possibility of feeder service from the ports of Montreal or Halifax, or from the projected Melford International Terminal that''s expected to open in 2011 on Nova Scotia''s Canso Strait.
Cabotage, he says, is likely to blossom whenever the combination of highway congestion, high fuel prices and the benefits of green transportation convince shippers that there is a better way to move cargo.
While nothing is firm for Oswego, Mr Daniels is willing to put money on the line, as least what''s coming his way from Washington, specifically US$237,000 earmarked for the port to upgrade connector roads and security for its terminal. That will be followed by a $2 million investment to build and equip a 15-acre container facility.
As it stands, container shipping is barely visible through the St Lawrence Seaway canal system in the mountains of coal, grain, steel, stone and other bulk commodities that fill Great Lakes carriers.
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2009/4/9