VIEW Shipping Season Opener Much like home openers in baseball, arrival of the first oceangoing saltwater ships at Duluth-Superior Harbor on Lake Superior is highly anticipated by ship lovers in the Twin Ports and beyond. Two of the arriving “salties” were headed to the CHS grain terminal in Superior, one to load durum wheat destined for Algeria and the other to take on spring wheat before sailing for Portugal. This ship gliding under the Duluth Aerial Lift Bridge, another early arrival during opening weekend, is a former salty converted to a Great Lakes–based “laker.” This year’s traditional rite of spring, which took place on Easter weekend in mid-April, had added meaning because it occurred during the 50th anniversary of the opening of the St. Lawrence Seaway. The famous waterway opened on June 26, 1959, providing Upper Midwest grain growers with access to export markets in Europe, Africa and the Middle East. While the seaway moves just 2 percent of the nation’s total grain exports, it’s a crucial link for Minnesota and North Dakota producers. 16 May/June 2009 WWW.CHSINC.COM

Issue Articles

View

Visit Article: http://c.chsinc.com/article/View/962048/98411/article.html.