Spliethoff bolsters presence in Great Lakes/St. Lawrence waterway

Amsterdam-based Spliethoff Group’s multipurpose vessels have recently been significantly expanding their presence throughout ports on the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence River.

Since late April, the Cleveland-Europe Express liner service between Antwerp and Cleveland launched last year has added a second call and become fortnightly. It has also been re-named CEE-WAY, reflecting the integration of the Port of Valleyfield, near Montreal, on the St. Lawrence Seaway. “More and more project and container cargo is starting to flow between Europe and Valleyfield as the service is getting better known,” said Frank Dunn, President of Valport Marine Services. “The ships are full westbound, and we are very optimistic.” “On inducement, we call at other ports on the St. Lawrence Rver and the Great Lakes system,” said a representative in Montreal of Spliethoff Canada. The service between Antwerp, Valleyfield and Cleveland offers quick transit for various cargo commodities, including breakbulk. At the same time, Salaberry-de-Valleyfield is emerging as a multimodal logistics hub with the recent inauguration in the industrial park of an intermodal terminal by U.S. rail carrier CSX, which offers a direct connection to a 34,000-mile network in the United States. Last year, Valleyfield attained a new record by handling 550,626 metric tons. Solid and liquid bulk traffic increased respectively by 8% and 10%, but still more significant was the nearly 65% jump in general cargo to 142,289 tons. The general cargo dimension is continuing to rise as Spliethoff multi-purpose vessels entering the St. Lawrence Seaway from Europe stop at Valleyfield and discharge at the Valport terminal cargo destined for Canadian customers. They subsequently load any shortsea cargoes destined for U.S. markets via the Port of Cleveland. On the return voyage, any shortsea cargoes from the U.S. can be unloaded at Valport where also any additional Europe-bound export cargo can also be loaded. Valport recently took delivery of a second reachstacker, which transports intermodal cargo containers short distances very quickly. Spliethoff vessels have since this spring been calling on demand at such ports as Thunder Bay, Windsor, Milwaukee, Toledo, and Detroit in addition to Cleveland following the re-opening of commercial navigation on the Seaway.