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Dan Kraker

Commercial shipping season opens in Duluth

The John G. Munson closed the 2014 season
The 768-foot freighter the John G. Munson was the last ship to enter Duluth at the close of the 2014 shipping season. On Monday, March 23, the freighter will depart for the start of the 2015 season.
Dan Kraker | MPR News

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In an annual rite of spring in Duluth, the 2015 commercial shipping season is scheduled to begin Monday.

Two ships are set to depart the Port of Duluth-Superior. The John G. Munson will carry iron ore to Gary, Indiana. The thousand-foot Mesabi Miner will leave with coal for Minnesota Power's Taconite Harbor power plant, north of Silver Bay.

Despite last winter's record ice conditions, Adele Yorde with the Duluth Seaway Port Authority said the port moved 2.3 percent more cargo in 2014 than the previous year, finishing at 37.5 million tons.

"The higher lake levels really allowed the lakers to load heavier and to carry more cargo on each transit, so that helped a great deal," Yorde said.

Yorde said there's still a significant amount of ice covering eastern Lake Superior. Two Coast Guard cutters will lay tracks in the ice to help ships navigate through the Soo Locks and the St. Mary's River down to the lower lakes.