Seaway season will end Dec. 29 after dismal year

MASSENA — There are six more weeks left before the end of a what's being billed as a dismal shipping season on the St. Lawrence Seaway.

The section of the Seaway from Lake Ontario to Montreal will close Dec. 29. The Welland Canal, a series of eight locks connecting Lake Erie and Lake Ontario, will close Dec. 30.

So far this season, cargo levels are down more than 30 percent from last year.

"Definitely this is the worst downturn we've seen, and I think that's industrywide," said Carol A. Fenton, deputy associate administrator in the Seaway's Massena operations. "If memory serves me, it's worse than we projected."

By the end of October 2008, more than 34 million tons of cargo were shipped through the river and Great Lakes system, compared with about 23 million over the same period this year.

The weak economy means fewer industries are using the Seaway to move their materials, resulting in a difficult season for the shipping channel.

Though the seeds of the current recession were planted before the 2008 season ended, administrators did not expect numbers to be as low as they have been. Iron ore and coal, two of the most important types of cargo, are down this year.

This year, 5 million tons of iron ore have been carried along the Seaway, compared with 10 million at the end of October last year. Coal is down about 1 million tons from last year, at just over 2 million.

Grain, the other main cargo, is holding steady. Grain volumes have been increasing for the past few months, as the harvest comes in and farmers begin to sell their crops.

"We've always seen an increase in the fall," Ms. Fenton said. "We don't anticipate that's going to stop this year."

Nearly 6 million tons of grain have traversed the shipping route this year.

This is the third year in a row that shipments along the Seaway system have gone down. Drops in water levels in 2007 meant that ships could not carry as much cargo, resulting in lighter, more expensive trips through the locks. That year, cargo transports were down about 1.5 percent. The beginning of the recession in 2008, especially in the auto industry, saw cargo decrease nearly 5 percent, according to Ms. Fenton.

The modest increases — about 4 percent — in the past two months are giving some hope to Seaway administration.

"We hope that means we're looking at an uptick for next year," Ms. Fenton said. Industry forecasters "are cautiously optimistic that we're going to see an increase, at least over this year."

In January, the federal government announced the beginning of a decadelong asset renewal plan, doubling the budget of the St. Lawrence Seaway Development Corp., which manages the American portion of the route.

That plan, which will fund updates to Seaway property that has seen nothing but routine maintenance since being built 50 years ago, is not in jeopardy, Ms. Fenton said.

"Anything can change, but as of this time, we've been approved our money for our 2010 budget," she said.