Erie Shipping News: End of the Year Wrap Up

It has become a tradition that on December 31 I write an end of the year wrap up and recap the port's activity, the biggest stories of the year, and look ahead at the coming year.

After a 2009 season that was one of the worst in years, Erie saw improvement in some areas in 2010, while seeing a decrease in others. Overall, 28 vessels visited the port either delivering or loading cargoes of stone, sand, salt, machinery, locomotives, or biodiesel in 2010. This is down from 29 in 2009.

Stone cargoes were down from 2009, with 16 cargoes of stone delivered to the port of Erie this year, compared to 18 in 2009. Salt cargoes stayed the same, with four loads delivered. Only three loads of sand were delivered this season, compared to four in 2009. And only one load of biodiesel was shipped out, compared to two in 2009.

Two loads of machinery were imported to the port this year; both were delivered by the FEDERAL POWER. This is double last year's amount, when only one load of machinery was delivered to the port. Two loads of machinery departed the port this year: one in July aboard the WITTE 1406 bound for Cleveland, and the recent shipment of locomotives bound for Newport, Wales. This is compared to one load last year aboard SEDNA DESGAGNES.

First-time visitors to the port of Erie this year were BELUGA ENDURANCE, FEDERAL POWER, and NORDIC STOCKHOLM.

The leading visitors to the port of Erie this year were the H. LEE WHITE and MANISTEE with four visits each, followed by the SAM LAUD and VICTORY/JAMES L. KUBER with three. FEDERAL POWER, JOHN J. BOLAND, JOSEPH H. THOMPSON, and MISSISSAGI were other repeat visitors with two visits each.

Complete listings of vessels visiting the port of Erie can be found here in PDF form:

• 2010
  
• 2009
  

The five biggest stories of 2010, as determined by the readers of this blog based on the number of times each post was viewed, are as follows:

5. Tall Ships Erie. Held from September 9-12, this festival brought six tall ships to Erie as a fundraiser for the Flagship Niagara League. Two ships, the PATHFINDER and PLAYFAIR, were forced to cancel.

4. The non-loading of the CLIPPER LOYALTY in November. This is noteworthy because it highlights the dredging crisis that has gripped the Great Lakes; the LOYALTY was loaded too deeply to safely exit the port if it had loaded.

3. The resurgence of Donjon Shipbuilding. Donjon's story was well-publicized in the Erie media and on this blog, where I have been following the story of the shipyard closely since the beginning.

2. The locomotive shipment. This is the first time GE has shipped locomotives from the port since 2006.

1. The floating of the tug KEN BOOTHE SR. This is perhaps the biggest story covered on this blog, and goes in part to the resurgence of Donjon. One year and one day after announcing their purchase of the assets of the defunct Erie Shipbuilding, Donjon launched its first newbuilding, and the first powered vessel ever built entirely at the facility.

Over the coming year I look forward to covering the continued successes of Donjon Shipbuilding and Erie Sand & Gravel. I wish all of my readers a happy, safe, and prosperous New Year 2011.