Study says Great Lakes freighters are efficent, environmentally best way to transport heavy goods

West Michigan is served by several deepwater ports in Musekgon, Holland and Grand Haven, and a study by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers indicates that lakers -- ships that haul cargo within the five Great Lakes --carry cargo farther per gallon of fuel than other modes of transporation.

According to excerpts from the story:

Great Lakes freighters are the most efficient and environmentally friendly way to transport coal, limestone and other cargo to industries around the region, according to a new government study.

The so-called lakers -- ships that haul cargo exclusively within the five Great Lakes -- move freight at much less cost than trucks or trains and generate far less air pollution, according to the study by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Great Lakes freighters save industries $3.6 billion annually in transportation costs, according to the Corps report.

"This translates directly into more competitive American steel, lower cost energy, and lower cost concrete for construction in our cities and on highways," the report said.

The study marked the first time the government has quantified the value of the Great Lakes Navigation system, a network of 63 commercial ports and locks on the U.S. side of lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie and Ontario.

Previous studies have found that lake freighters account for about 95 percent of all cargo shipped on the Great Lakes. Lake freighters hauled 173 million tons of cargo to and from ports on the U.S. side of the Great Lakes in 2006, roughly 10 percent of all U.S. waterborne domestic shipping traffic, the Corps report said.

Ships generate less air pollution than trucks or trains because freighters can carry cargo much farther per gallon of fuel. A Great Lakes freighter can travel 607 miles on one gallon of fuel per ton of cargo -- 10 times farther than a semi-truck and three times farther than a freight train, according to the report.

The 1,000-foot freighters that routinely deliver coal to the B.C. Cobb power plant in Muskegon can haul 70,000 tons of cargo, enough to fill 3,000 semi-trucks.  Ships deliver 1.2 million tons of western coal annually to the Cobb facility, said Kelly M. Farr, a spokesman for Consumers Energy, which owns the power plant.

Read the complete story here.