The Port of Indiana Burns Harbor/Portage has kicked off its international shipping season by welcoming the first two ships of 2007.
One ship arrived on Friday night carrying 8,148 metric tons of steel coils from Ijmuiden, Holland. The second ship from Canada contained other dry bulk goods.
Every year, from the beginning of March through December, the Great Lakes/St. Lawrence Seaway opens its international waterway for ships headed to US and Canadian ports throughout the Great Lakes - the Port of Indiana being a major destination for international cargoes.
The Port of Indiana reported in February that steel shipments helped the port reach a new annual record of $1.89 billion of cargo handled in 2006, a one percent increase from 2005 which had registered the highest level of the previous 36 years. Steel accounted for $955 million of the 2006 shipments, a 45 percent increase from the year before.
The Port of Indiana-Burns Harbor/Portage is a 600-acre port and maritime industrial park located on Lake Michigan, 20 miles north of Chicago. The port has 12 ship berths and 25 tenant companies within its boundaries. The Ports of Indiana operates three ports in total, including two on the Ohio River in Jeffersonville and Mount Vernon.