New terminal coming to Port of Monroe

[Jimaz]

How important is this development to the Detroit area?

New terminal coming to Port of Monroe

[The 1,000-foot James R. Barker freighter] will soon have company in the likes of container ships. Those 40′ metal boxes are the most popular way to move cargo worldwide. And they’ve yet to have a foothold on the Detroit River or the Great Lakes, for that matter....

In the 2023 bipartisan budget, there’s about $15 million in state funds to add another boat hold, railroad spurs to allow containers and another $5 million in federal funds to put in a customs scanning facility.

The idea is to move freight from the location out to the St. Lawrence Seaway....

... you won’t see those [ocean-going] monster container ships there. But smaller ships on those waters.

[Those] who are putting this together say that they can cut three or four days off the shipping over to Europe.

[Lowell]

I'd guess that Monroe being on Lake Erie makes it easier for ships to maneuver than the Port of Detroit in the Detroit River.

[MikeM]

A Belgian company is planning a scheduled monthly container service to Duluth:

Monthly ship to carry cargo, containers between Duluth, Belgium ports

[stasu1213]

How does this benefit Detroit? This is not in the Detroit area. Just think of the revenue Detroit could gain from the Detroit River if it was put to good use. The port of Detroit next to the RenCen was built too small for anything except for private large boats. Other than that it is a missed opportunity

[southen]

How does this benefit Detroit? This is not in the Detroit area. Just think of the revenue Detroit could gain from the Detroit River if it was put to good use. The port of Detroit next to the RenCen was built too small for anything except for private large boats. Other than that it is a missed opportunity

Great Lakes cruise ships frequently park at the Port of Detroit. I'm not sure there is currently demand for anything more than what it already provides.

[K-slice]

How does this benefit Detroit? This is not in the Detroit area. Just think of the revenue Detroit could gain from the Detroit River if it was put to good use. The port of Detroit next to the RenCen was built too small for anything except for private large boats. Other than that it is a missed opportunity

The port you refer to is for passenger ships, not freighters. Apples and oranges.

That being said, Detroit proper's available industrial waterfront is nil currently. Monroe has the space for this and we just don't. Even factoring in the space between Zug and Wyandotte, it would take some land finagling to get space for a new container port.

[stasu1213]

The port you refer to is for passenger ships, not freighters. Apples and oranges.

That being said, Detroit proper's available industrial waterfront is nil currently. Monroe has the space for this and we just don't. Even factoring in the space between Zug and Wyandotte, it would take some land finagling to get space for a new container port.

True but it doesn't benefit Detroit

[Richard]

The port you refer to is for passenger ships, not freighters. Apples and oranges.

That being said, Detroit proper's available industrial waterfront is nil currently. Monroe has the space for this and we just don't. Even factoring in the space between Zug and Wyandotte, it would take some land finagling to get space for a new container port.

cruise terminals and raw materials that gets carried away by train,sand,gravel,arregates etc.

Everybody and their mothers brother is fighting to build container ports,when container shipping is going to be on the downslide.

All that debt taken on trying to compete,Detroit is better and safer financially doing what they are doing.Sometimes niches pay off better then trying to be like everybody else.

Think the roads are bad now,act like a container port and see how they become.

[jcole]

It benefits Michigan.

True but it doesn't benefit Detroit

[birwood]

Actually the Port of Monroe is the perfect place for a container port at the mouth of the River Raisin. There are already rail spurs/sidings in place, paved road to handle heavy traffic, easy access to I-75 located 1/3 of a mile away and traffic will not disturb any neighborhoods, because none were ever built there. Industry is already there, Detroit Edison Power Plant, Vent Tube Industries [[ Vent Tube makes the large cylinders for the energy windmills), Gerdal Steel Co., and the Port Docks. Check it out, I-75 and Exit 13, East Front Street

[Richard]

Actually the Port of Monroe is the perfect place for a container port at the mouth of the River Raisin. There are already rail spurs/sidings in place, paved road to handle heavy traffic, easy access to I-75 located 1/3 of a mile away and traffic will not disturb any neighborhoods, because none were ever built there. Industry is already there, Detroit Edison Power Plant, Vent Tube Industries [[ Vent Tube makes the large cylinders for the energy windmills), Gerdal Steel Co., and the Port Docks. Check it out, I-75 and Exit 13, East Front Street

Sounds like the most logical choice,somebody did their homework before choosing a location.

They are going to need a lot of raw materials there,the piles of raw materials stored in the city of Detroit as of now and the port that is already set up to receive more.

I guess that puts Detroit into the realm of benefiting from it.

Even better trade with Belgium and the Nordic countries is a lot more fair on both sides verses many that we deal with already.

But you never hear anything about it,maybe fair trade is boring when it is fair,I think it is great that they are ramping up in Michigan it’s going to benefit everybody.

[Gistok]

Since no cargo/container ship longer than 740 ft., and a width no greater than 78 ft. can be used to get into the Great Lakes [1000 ft. ore carriers were built within the upper 4 lakes, and cannot get beyond them], I wonder about cargo containers?

Does cargo coming into the lakes come across from foreign lands in ships with a max of 740 ft. length, or do they unload super-container-carriers onto smaller vessels first? Or a little of both?

[Richard]

Everybody else that has expanded their ports at the cost of billions has done so to except the super containers carriers.

During the pandemic most of the carriers scrapped their ships instead of paying port fees to sit there and China was hungry for steel so it was bringing top dollar.

So as they rebuild their fleets the only way they can survive and compete is by going with the super carriers.

The more you handle the containers the more expensive it becomes,so they are getting rid of the smaller carriers,so your port either excepts super carriers or you are out of the game.

Outside of the drug game the mothership aspect is gone ,to much labor and risk to transfer cargo at sea.

That’s on the international side of things,I am not sure what they are still shipping on the Great Lakes outside of lumber and raw materials or bulk transport,before it was a majority of taconite to feed the steel mills but the fields of Minnesota are cleaned out and the majority of steel mills no longer exist. .

• Today, the primary Great Lakes cargoes include iron ore, coal, limestone, farm products [[such as grain, corn, soybeans), steel, and project cargo [[such as large turbine blades for wind energy projects, giant steel pressure vessels for oil refining, and railroad locomotives for export). 4 Other bulk goods carried on the Great Lakes include taconite, salt, cement, gypsum, sand, slag, and potash. 3

https://clearseas.org/en/blog/marine...%20potash.%203

They have a good breakdown map there of the ports and what they do.

Notice how much of the materials they list resides already in Detroit.

I kinda think that is the intent already decided,Detroit is a bulk materials hub and from there it heads out across the country on rail.

I kinda think that the city is restricted or limited to what the port can handle feasibly the next option would be capitalizing on the tourist trade,cruise ships and the local supporting business that feed off of that.

I am also speculating as to why they are demolishing the old building that the bobo boats used to dock at? In order to build a large bulk transfer station.

Despite the move to super ships,Florida has a lot of independent cargo carriers that supply the islands and South America.

I can see that taking hold in Detroit without spending billions to make happen,because there will always be that nich or mid range market that does not require massive cargo carriers.

But even at that,the way it is trending,all of these cities that are investing billions on taxpayer dollars in the hopes of reeling in the super carriers are going to end up getting stuck because the demand for all of that cheap imported crap is going to fall.